Miss Raven's Talent Facility Year Two
by gracegrrl007
Summary: This time, in the second year around, Miss Raven's gains some new members. But how will our original members survive? A continuation of Miss Raven's Year One with some new characters from The iDOLM@STER and Naruto. Abberleigh, Jasper, Raven, Kenchi, and Yamioko are new OCs. (there are A LOT of OCs in these books...) All charactersxOC.
1. Chapter 1

The sun reflected off the girl's pretty, green-grey eyes, thrusting them into their emerald green state. She tossed her long, brown hair away from her shoulder and continued her walk, the wind plastering her loose striped polo shirt to her body. She didn't bother stopping, though. She had somewhere to go.

Finally, the girl found the sign she'd been looking for. "Miss Raven's Talent Facility…I hope I'll fit in alright…" she muttered to herself, approaching the huge school building. Walking inside, she spotted a small desk layered with pieces of paper. Blinking, she walked closer. "A sign-up sheet? Awesome, that's just what I needed," she exclaimed gleefully.

"I'm glad you found it alright, dear," a voice said from behind her. The girl spun on her heels and found herself face-to-face with a woman who appeared in her forties, with black hair pulled in a top-knot, and blue eyes. She was wearing a dress with a black skirt and a white bodice, with a black tuxedo jacket hanging loosely over her shoulder. A top hat was arranged lopsidedly on her head. "My name is Miss Raven. Are you here to join the school?"

"Yes ma'am, I am," the girl said politely. "Is this where I sign up?"

"Indeed it is," Miss Raven answered. Then two young children called her name and Miss Raven hustled away.

The girl blinked. "Name and age, hmm? Not too hard."

_Abberleigh Johnson-18_

"WELCOME NEW STUDENT!" someone screamed. Abberleigh squeaked and jumped. "You're eighteen too? Maybe we'll be in some of the same classes! Oh wait, of course we will—I'm in all six! My name is Grace."

"N-nice to meet you," Abberleigh whispered. "I'm Abberleigh. You can call me-"

"I'm gonna call you Bubbles, OK? Yay! Alright, see you around, Bubbles!" With that, Grace turned and skipped away. Abberleigh stared after her, dumbfounded.

"Who is that girl? In all six what? There are only six classes? What kind of school is this?!" she whined to herself.

"There are six specialty classes only. But there's math, English, history, and all that too, so don't freak out. And by the way, I'm Blue."

Abberleigh slowly turned. A boy with blond hair and bright blue eyes faced her. He had a scowl on his face, but when Abberleigh turned to him, his expression gradually softened. "Thank you, Blue. I'm Abberleigh. You can call me Abbi," Abberleigh introduced.

"No problem. Don't mind that Grace, she's an idiot. You know, you're awfully pretty. Maybe we'll room together this year. And if you need help, just come find me," Blue said. He took the pencil from Abberleigh's hand, and she watched him write his name below hers:

_Blue-18_

"Your name is just Blue? That's not even a nickname?" Abberleigh questioned. "Strange…"

"Yeah, I don't really have a 'real' name…we're all strange here, anyways," Blue added. "That's the whole reason we're here in the first place! Anyways, if you have questions, then…yeah. Just look for me." Then he smiled at her and walked away. Abberleigh found herself blushing slightly. She quickly covered her face with her hand and tried to force the blush down. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the girl named Grace eyeing her somewhat jealously.

_I wonder why…oh! She must like Blue! _Abberleigh reasoned in her mind. As she was pondering things, two more boys approached the sign up sheet. Abberleigh was jostled aside by one of them, and she let out an irritated cry. "Hey, be careful!" she ordered.

"Why don't you? Look, I was trying to get through, so you should have moved," the boy who'd jostled her commented. He had spiky green-grey hair, the same color as Abberleigh's eyes. His own eyes were a dull blue.

"Who do you think you are?" Abberleigh huffed.

In response, the boy wrote his name and age.

_Kyoya Tategami-18_

"That's who." Then Kyoya turned to the other boy, grunted, and left. The other boy, with tall orange hair and brown eyes, rolled his eyes and wrote his name.

_Crow Hogan-17_

He looked at Abberleigh. "Don't mind Kyoya. He's a jerk. Hey, have you seen Blue?"

Abberleigh nodded. "I think he's over there."

"Thanks. I'm Crow, Blue's best buddy. But he left me behind. I came to find him," Crow explained.

"Oh. Well, he seems pretty nice. You would know, wouldn't you? What is his relationship with Grace?" Abberleigh asked.

Crow frowned. "Oh, well…Grace is Blue's ex-girlfriend," he said.

Abberleigh nodded. "That's so sad…and she still has feelings for him?"

"I guess. Look, here comes Chazz!"

Abberleigh watched a tall boy with spiky black hair and dark grey eyes hurry up to the sheet and scrawl his name on the paper.

"There. Signed up. Miss Raven, who am I rooming with?" he yelled across the room to Miss Raven. Miss Raven sighed.

"You're rooming with Crow this time, Chazz. In room 256."

"Cool. I hope you don't mind nightmares, Crow. I'm gonna go sleep now," the boy announced, running off. Abberleigh peered down at his hastily written signature.

_Chazz Princeton-18_

"Huh…Chazz Princeton? I think I've heard that name in a book, or whatever," Abberleigh said. "Most of these people are boys."

"'Most' isn't 'all' though, hon," a girl behind her cooed. Her hair was honey brown, and her eyes were the color of almonds. Another girl stood behind her, vibrant red hair tucked behind her ears and blue eyes dim. Her eyes lowered and the brunette girl scrawled her name on the paper fancily, her friend following suit.

_Celeste Longsworth-19_

_ Astrid Starfellow-19_

"Oh, you girls are nineteen? That's rare," Abberleigh commented. "I'm Abberleigh Johnson, eighteen years old."

"Nice to meet you, dear. I'm Celeste and this is Astrid. Look, she's letting her hair out of the bun for the first day of school!" the brunette squealed. "Isn't that exciting?"

"I guess," Abberleigh muttered. Suddenly, she heard someone clear their throat behind her. When she turned, there stood a new boy, hair black as a raven's feathers and eyes that were part orange, part brown. Abberleigh blinked. "Oh…hello…"

"If you're done, would you move?" the boy sighed impatiently. "_Some _people actually want to sign up."

_Rude much? _Abberleigh thought. But the boy was right; Abberleigh, Astrid, and Celeste were blocking the sign-up sheet. Abberleigh moved and watched the boy write.

_Shun Kazami-18_

"Shun, honey! Wait for me!" a girl squeaked. She scribbled her name under Shun's.

_Irene Bush-18_

She blew a strand of green hair out of her blue eyes. Shun blushed.

"I wish you'd stop calling me that," he muttered uncomfortably.

"But you're my boyfriend," Irene pointed out.

Shun's blush deepened. "Irene…! Forget it, let's go over here…" He stalked away and Irene followed him obediently.

Abberleigh giggled. "It's funny seeing that guy blush. He seems so stoic."

"Because he is," Celeste giggled. "Hey, what room are you in?"

Before Abberleigh could answer, Miss Raven handed her a key. "Room 334."

Abberleigh nodded her thanks. "Who is my roommate?"

"Look out! Guy with bombs comin' through!" someone called. Abberleigh squeaked and jumped aside. The person who'd just come in grabbed the pen and wrote their name.

The person had long, golden hair and blue-grey eyes, so Abberleigh assumed it was a girl. But at the same time, the person's voice was so deep that she was almost sure it must be a boy. She watched them write for clues.

_Deidara-18_

_ That's it? Some clue…I think this person is Japanese, but I have no knowledge at all about Japanese names. It could be a boy or a girl, _Abberleigh thought hopelessly. She didn't want to be rude and ask, but she was terribly curious. The person faced her and smirked.

"Hey," the person said. "I'm Deidara. What's your name?"

"Oh, uh…I'm Abbi. Abberleigh, actually…but just Abbi is fine," Abberleigh said awkwardly. Deidara snatched a key from Miss Raven and read the tag hanging off of it.

"Room 334," Deidara announced. "What room are you?"

"334," Abberleigh said. After a moment, she exclaimed, "We're roommates!"

"They let boys room with girls here, un? How interesting," Deidara commented.

"You're a boy, then!" Abberleigh squeaked. "I thought you were, but with your hair and all…"

Deidara's smile faded. "Um…yes. I'm a boy."

"Yes! Oh, um…was that offensive?"

"Yes…it was."

"Oh. Sorry."

Deidara chuckled uncomfortably. "No problem, I guess. So, I'll see you in the room then, un!"

Abberleigh smiled at him. "Yes, you will. Give me a minute."

Deidara nodded and then sped off. Abberleigh chuckled to herself.

"Make way, make way! The great Iori-chan wishes to pass through! Ugh, stop jostling me!"

Abberleigh spun. A new group of people was entering, and Abberleigh felt she recognized every one. She watched them all write in turn. The first was a young-looking girl with reddish-brown hair and pinkish-red eyes.

_Iori Minase-15_

The next girl had brown hair and eyes, and she stumbled up to the paper and took the pen from her friend, the girl named Iori. "I-I think I'll try it...I mean, I'm sure...I'll fit in fine," she said quietly. Then she signed her name.

_Yukiho Hagiwara-16_

Abberleigh was sure now. These names were so familiar. But she couldn't be sure until the last girls wrote their names.

The next had black hair pulled into a long ponytail and blue eyes. She bounced over to the sign-up sheet. "This'll be so excitin'! I wish Takane were here for this, but she and Azusa—and Ritsuko too—they were all too busy, or too uninterested, or too old. Whatever, I'll have so much fun here. I jus' know it!"

_Hibiki Ganaha-16_

The second-to-last girl in the group was now signing her name. "I hope people don't ignore me because they think I'm clumsy," she whined. Her eyes were blue, and her hair short and brown like her friend Yukiho's. This girl's hair was slightly redder. "I know I fall over a lot, but I'm not that much of a klutz!"

_Haruka Amami-16_

Abberleigh was excited now. She was sure—no, positive—that these were the girls she'd been thinking of. She tried not to make a fuss while the very last girl wrote her name.

"They'll probably laugh, Haruka. What I want to know is whether or not they'll allow me to wear frilly dresses in school! I'm hoping I'll actually get at least one guy to notice me," she added. The girl examined the page with purple-grey eyes. "Oh, it only asks for name and age? I thought it'd need an address, or phone number, or parent signature...I'm glad it doesn't, though."

_Makoto Kikuchi-16_

"IT'S REALLY YOU GUYS!" Abberleigh cried. Makoto jumped and let out a startled cry. "Ohmigosh, you're the iDOLM STER characters! I love all your songs...oh, especially the ones you sing, Makoto!"

Makoto moaned. "Great, I've only been here for three seconds and I already have another female fan..."

"No no, not like that, Makoto," Abberleigh laughed. "Although, you do make an awfully cute guy."

Makoto moaned again.

"Sorry, sorry...I'm Abberleigh. But you can call me Abbi for short. Don't bother introducing yourselves, I know who you are. Anyways, I'll see you in class, OK guys? But wait, where are Ami and Mami? And Azusa, and Producer, and-"

"Ami was too busy and Mami wouldn't go without her. Azusa is too old, and Producer is also too old—and too busy also," Hibiki interrupted. "But we're here!"

"And I'm so happy about that...oh, I promised my roommate that I'd meet him at the room, so...bye guys!" She started to run off.

"WAIT!" Makoto shouted after her. Abberleigh froze and turned. "They let guys room with girls here?"

"Yes, apparently," Abberleigh answered. "Why, you hoping you'll get a male roommate?"

"Maybe we'll get to know each other really well and he'll fall in love with me. I don't know. And it'd help if he wasn't a pervert," Makoto said. "So, what is this school like?"

"I have no idea," Abberleigh admitted. "I'm a first year too."

Haruka giggled. "Oh, I just want to get my room key so I can unpack. Have you seen Miss Raven?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Isn't the new girl nice?" Grace asked her sister, Jo. "Bubbl—er, Abberleigh, I mean."

"So you aren't upset that Blue obviously likes her?" Jo questioned.

"Please, I'm so over him," Grace huffed. "Besides, he won't get far if she's rooming with a guy. And she is; he's a first year too, named Deidara? Have you met him?"

Jo nodded. "He's pretty, isn't he?"

"I heard that."

Grace turned. The subject of their conversation was positioned leaning against the auditorium walls. He was obviously waiting for his roommate. "Oh...hi, Deidara!"

"You think you can just be all friendly after such an offensive comment, un?" Deidara sniffed. "I'm a guy. We don't like being called pretty."

"You aren't the only one," Grace pointed out. "There's Shun too!"

Someone put a hand on her shoulder. Grace turned. Shun had arrived.

"He was right. Being pretty is not a compliment to a guy," he muttered, blushing slightly.

"Thank you," Deidara called.

"But it's true!" Grace giggled. "You, and Deidara, and even those new boys? Jasper and Raven? You're all pretty."

"That's offensive!" Shun and Deidara complained at the same time. Grace laughed.

"Speaking of Jasper and Raven..." Jo pointed out the two boys.

They both had black hair. Raven's eyes were an amber brown and Jasper's were bright green. The two were only 14 years old. The two of them had already slowly started to get along with Shun, but for almost everyone else, everything about them was a mystery. The only thing most people knew was that Jasper and Raven were best friends.

"He's so short. He's only...what, four feet tall?" Grace whispered.

"I think he's 4'11''," Jo responded. "That's what I heard."

"From who?" Grace wondered aloud.

"The school nurse. Remember, he tried to kill himself last night? So Raven brought him to the nurse. She gave him a check-up, declared him perfectly abnormal, and sent him off. I talked to her in the morning because I felt like a tulip, remember that? I don't know, my brain died...so, when I got there, the nurse told me he was only about 4' 11''."

Grace chuckled. "I remember that. Your brain died and you thought you were a tulip. What did Nurse Heather say?"

"That I'm insane."

"Oh. Did she help you?"

"She gave me six shots, but I don't think any of them did anything. Oh yeah, and she gave me a lollipop. I felt better after that."

"You."

The girls turned from their conversation. Grace blinked. She hadn't expected the small teen called Jasper to have such a low-pitched voice. His head was down as he spoke.

"You're in my way," Jasper muttered. "Move it."

Something in his commanding tone made Grace want to obey. Silently, she stood aside and watched Jasper walk in. Raven followed after him without a word. Grace watched the boys find their seats in the back corner and sit beside each other. They were roommates, Grace realized. _Good for them._

"He's so cute," Jo whispered in Grace's ear. "Jasper is, I mean."

"I know," Grace giggled.

"Oh, there you are, Deidara! I was looking for you," came a voice that sounded like Abberleigh's. Grace turned, and sure enough, the brown-haired, green-grey-eyed Abberleigh was racing down the halls.

"Bubbles! It's you!" Grace cheered. "I'm glad you found this place. Go find the chairs marked with your room number and sit there, OK?"

Deidara pushed off from the wall and stared down at Abberleigh. "Did you get that? Let's go find 334."

Abberleigh nodded and followed her roommate inside. "You know, I'm not that much shorter then you..."

Grace blinked. "Oh, Shun...I'm so glad we're roommates again this year! I was scared. And poor Jo got Kyoya."

"_Poor_ me? I'm thrilled! I love Kyoya," Jo pouted.

Kyoya suddenly appeared behind her. "I kind of heard all of that."

"Oh...you're welcome," Jo said. She threaded her arm around Kyoya's and dragged him inside. Kyoya whacked her arm away and stalked off by himself to search for their seats.

Grace turned to Shun. "Should we go in?"

Shun was staring into space. "I wanted to room with Irene this year..."

"...too bad. And I don't think you're going to want to say that around her," Grace pointed out.

"Why not? She feels the same way..."

"Well, yeah, but you guys are dating now, and a comment like 'I wish we were roommates' could easily be translated into 'I want to-"

"I GET IT."

Grace nodded. "Good. Because I did not want to finish that sentence."

Shun sighed. "Let's just go find our seats," he muttered, grabbing Grace's hand and dragging her inside. Grace found their seats first and discovered that they were in between Jo & Kyoya and Deidara & Abberleigh. Grace sat next to Abberleigh. She had done so purposely so that Kyoya would be forced to sit next to Shun. She saw him desperately try to change seats with Jo, but Jo wouldn't budge. Finally, Kyoya gave up and collapsed next to his enemy. Shun grunted. Kyoya grunted back.

"Communication is the first step to friendship," Abberleigh said, shrugging.

"So you two are on a roll!" Grace added.

For the rest of the time Shun and Kyoya didn't utter a sound to each other.

Jasper and Raven were right behind Grace and Shun. Grace turned around and faced the small emo teen and his strong, silent friend. Raven eyed Shun until the older boy turned. The two stared at each other for a moment before Raven grunted and broke eye contact. Grace smiled at Jasper.

"Hello, Jasper," she said brightly.

"I hate it when people say hello," Jasper muttered. "So shut up."

"But you're so cute and short!" Grace squeaked. Jasper's head shot up and his eyes flashed fury.

"First of all, I am not short. I'm just...small. And second of all...Raven, can I kill her?"

Grace let out a tiny, scared cry. "K-kill me?" she stammered. Abberleigh swallowed.

Raven turned to his friend. "Jasper, that's not the good thing to do," he said quietly. His voice was hoarse and scratchy. Grace blinked, surprised that such a young boy could have such an adult-sounding voice. Even Shun jumped slightly when hearing Raven speak for the first time.

"His voice is lower then mine," Shun whispered to Grace. Grace nodded.

"I know," she said.

"I don't even care," Jasper complained. "She called me short!"

Raven nodded. "That doesn't mean you can kill her, Jasper. Remember our exercises..."

Jasper moaned. "Fine. But if her roommate wakes up and she's not there, don't be surprised."

Grace slowly turned around. "This should be...interesting..."

Miss Raven was now onstage. "Welcome, school-goers. I am Miss Raven, and I've come to tell you our rules."

"We definitely haven't ever heard this before," Kyoya said in mock brightness. "Lemme guess, she'll start with..."

"Rule number one; no killing anyone. Jasper? Do you understand?"

"Well, that's new," Kyoya commented.

"If I must," Jasper called sarcastically.

Miss Raven nodded. "Rule number two: I don't want any bullies in this school. We have many new students this year and I want them to feel welcome. Understood...Kyoya? Shun? Chazz?"

"WE'RE NOT BULLIES!" all three mentioned boys cried.

"That's just not fair, Miss Raven! You know me. I'd never hurt anyone," Chazz called from the front row.

"And we may hate almost everyone here, but Shun and I will really only 'bully' each other," Kyoya pointed out. Shun nodded agreement.

Miss Raven shrugged. "Last rule. And you know this one from past years. NO GIVING YOURSELF DETENTION. Kyoya, do you understand?"

Abberleigh frowned. "Why on Earth would he want detention?"

"So that he can bug Miss Raven," Shun explained.

"It doesn't work most of the time, though," Kyoya added. "Miss Raven has stopped allowing herself to give me detention. Apparently she's out of Asprin money."

Abberleigh nodded. "I think I get it."

Deidara chuckled. "Do you think she'd let me do that?"

"Maybe. I mean, you're new here, so she might not know..."

"I'll give her lots of headaches."

"You'd do that for me? I'm flattered. Good boy."

Miss Evangeline, the principal, was now onstage. "Good morning, students. I am Miss Evangeline, principal of the school. I have a special announcement. Now, at this school so far, how many couples do we have out there?"

The first (and only) person Grace could hear was Irene, down in one of the first rows. "I'm in a couple! I'm the girl, and Shun is the boy! We're a couple!"

Grace turned to Shun. "Aren't you gonna say something?"

"Trust me, she's cheering loud enough for _all _of us," Shun moaned.

Grace giggled. "Yeah, I know."

Miss Evangeline smiled. "Yes, and how did you show your affections, Irene?"

"I called him honey?"

Miss Evangeline frowned.

"Oh yeah! The harmonizing thing! Well, Shun sang a song, so I harmonized."

Kyoya chuckled. "That was funny..."

"Hey!" Shun complained. "At least I did something."

"Anyways," Miss Evangeline called. The crowd fell silent. "What Irene did was the right thing. Here at Miss Raven's, you don't display affections through simply telling the person, you harmonize. Wait for a moment when the person you love is singing, and then harmonize. Understand?"

"Yes," the crowd droned.

"Hey, Bubbles, do you get it?" Grace asked Abberleigh.

Abberleigh nodded. "I think so. So, say I had a crush on Deidara..."

Deidara sat up a little straighter and seemed to be listening closer.

"I'd have to wait for him to start singing, and then harmonize?"

"That's what Miss Evangeline said," Grace laughed.

"Deidara! You're ignoring me," someone suddenly said. Deidara blinked.

"Hm?" He turned around. A red-headed boy with brown eyes was frowning at him, arms crossed. He was seated next to a boy with chin-length black hair and blue eyes. "Oh...Sasori. I didn't see you there."

"I've been trying to get your attention for...I don't know. A long time...half an hour?" the red-headed boy huffed. "But you ignored me."

"I didn't hear you..."

"You were too busy flirting, that's why."

Deidara blushed. "I'm not-"

"Anyways," the boy interrupted. "So...how are you...?"

"That's it? Well...I'm fine, I guess. How about you, Sasori?"

The boy shrugged. "Right about now, I'm lonely and ignored. Thanks to you."

Deidara gave an exasperated sigh. "Look, I'm sorry, OK?"

"Sorry doesn't help. I have a heart, you know..."

"You do?" Deidara gasped.

"You knew that!" the boy whimpered.

Deidara laughed. "I know, I know. I'm just kidding with you. Hey, have you met my roommate Abbi?"

Abberleigh waved. Grace waved too.

"No. Anyway..."

"Then you have to meet her," Deidara announced. "Abberleigh, meet Sasori. Oh, and this is Grace."

"Hi. _Anyway..._"

"Nice to meet you, Sasori," Abberleigh cut in. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you."

"That's very nice. _ANYWAY..._"

"Say hi to Grace!" Deidara pouted.

"Hi to Grace. I mean, no...just hi...Grace. Yes. _ANYWAY...!_"

"Now say hi to-"

"PLEASE shut up." Sasori insisted.

Deidara blinked. "No. Say hi to Shun."

Sasori moaned. "Hello Shun. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to my...friend."

"But we haven't met your roommate!" Grace whined.

"Roommate, this is these guys. These guys, this is my roommate. There. Now, I'd like to speak with you..."

"What's his name?" Abberleigh asked. "Sorry again...!"

"I'm Yamioko Kohaiah. Call me Yami or Yoko. And you're Abbi, and she's Grace, right?" the black-haired boy confirmed.

"Yes. Oh, and I'm Jo. I'm going to call you Yokak, OK, Yokak?" Jo said.

Yamioko blinked. "No thank you...Jo."

Sasori's eyes narrowed. "Everyone SHUT UP."

Everyone fell silent. Until...

"ONCE I HAD A DREAM WHERE I WAS ON MY BUNK PLAYING BARBIES, AND I FELL OFF."

"DEIDARA! SHUT UP."

"Yes sir..."

Abberleigh laughed. "You have weird dreams, don't you?" she asked.

Deidara nodded. "Yes, I do."

Sasori moaned loudly. "Stop ignoring me..."

"Do you have weird dreams too, Sasori? Consider yourself un-ignored," Deidara said,

Sasori nodded. "Yes, I do. Now, if you don't shut up, I'll...um...tickle you."

"NOO! I'll shut up, I promise! Just don't tickle me!" Deidara begged. Sasori chuckled.

"Good. Now, anyways...I wanted to talk to you. We haven't spoken since we got here. I'm lonely," Sasori admitted.

"Hey, guys! Who likes chocolate ice cream?" Yamioko asked suddenly.

"Shut UP, Yokak!" Sasori ordered.

Yamioko sunk into his chair. "Fine then, Mr. Negative."

Sasori sighed. "I'm not negative, I'm annoyed. Now, everyone hush, so that I can have my conversation in peace," he said calmly.

Everyone nodded. Everyone, that is, except for Jasper, who suddenly sat up in the chair.

"You guys are all idiots, and you're bugging me. Go converse somewhere else," he commanded.

"Shut up, you stupid ant!" Deidara half-hissed. "My buddy here is trying to talk!"

Jasper frowned and stuck his toungue out at Deidara.

Deidara looked back at him and stuck his toungue out in reply.

Sasori nodded. "Thank you. So, then...how's...it?"

Deidara looked at him with a shocked expression. "You're seriously asking about 'it'?"

Grace and Abberleigh shifted uncomfortably. Deidara noticed them squirming.

"Oh, no, not that...that's not it...I mean, we have this mission thing, kind of...and that's what 'it' is," he explained awkwardly. Sasori nodded slowly.

"But anyways, how is it going?"

"I don't know."

"How can you not know? The mission was to make at least 5 friends who don't think we're freaks. So far I have one. How are you doing?"

Deidara shrugged. "Um..." He looked at Abberleigh, who nodded.

"We're your friends, guys," Grace added, taking Jo's wrist across Kyoya and Shun.

Deidara nodded. "That's three for me, and four for you. Wow, we're almost done already!"

Sasori chuckled softly. "Just wait...I said they had to be friends who didn't think we were freaks. Just wait. Oh, hey, I think it's over...Yamioko and I are going back to the room, now, alright? See you around, Deidara. You'll be in art class, right?"

"Duh, un!" Deidara laughed. "I'll see you there, then."

With that, Sasori rose and left, motioning for Yamioko to follow him. Raven gently coaxed Jasper up from his seat and the two best friends wandered away to their room.

Grace watched them go. "They seem nice. Sasori and Yamioko, that is. And Raven is OK...but I'm scared of Jasper," she admitted.

"So am I," Abberleigh agreed.

"I find him interesting."

Grace turned around. "Huh?"

"Over here."

Grace spotted the girl who'd spoken. "Oh...you do?"

The girl nodded. "Hm...he's adorable, too."

Grace blinked. "Yes...he is..." She trailed off. The girl's hair was dark brown, almost black, and her eyes a silverish color. When she angled her head to catch the light, her eyes seemed to change to a lilac color. "Um...what's your name?"

"Kurayami Yume," the girl answered. "As for my age, darkness only knows."

Grace slowly turned to face ahead. "Darkness...yes..."

"Yes, darkness. I like darkness. It fills my heart with joy." Then Kurayami stood. "Well, I should be going. That was your 'Kura-Kura Fun-Fact' for the day. Oh, and you're Grace. I heard them...that's what they were calling you, right? Nice to meet you." Then Kurayami left. Someone followed after her. It was another girl, with long black hair pulled in a ponytail and blue eyes. She turned as she left.

"Ain't she mysterious? Jus' like Takane! Oh, I'm Hibiki Ganaha. Nice to meet ya. Oh, Kurayami...wait up!"

Grace smiled. "Hibiki seems nice. I'm not so sure about Kurayami," she said. Jo nodded.

"We'll find out later, when we see her in class," she suggested. Grace smiled.

"Yes, we shall. And we'll meet more people too! I'm excited." She took a deep breath and stood. "Second year...here I come."


	3. Chapter 3

Makoto wandered slowly into the singing class room. Miss Raven was teaching. Students were allowed to choose their seats, so Makoto positioned herself between Yukiho and Haruka. Hibiki was behind her, Iori in front and to the left, and to Iori's right sat a particularly handsome boy. Makoto sat up straighter.

"Welcome, singing students! I would like to inform you all that this is less of a class and more like karaoke," Miss Raven announced. "We'll invite students to come onstage and broadcast your skills. Understand?"

Makoto beamed. "So, we don't even have to practice in class or anything? You just sing?" She laughed. "I'm going to run out of songs before the end of the year!"

Yukiho nodded. "Well, that is what she said...w-what will happen if we run out of songs?"

Makoto shrugged. "Oh...Yukiho, I was really hoping that if I didn't room with a guy, we'd room together. Who's your roommate?" she asked.

Yukiho smiled. "I was lucky and got put with Haruka. What about you, Makoto?" she questioned.

"Oh, um...I forget his name. He's barely ever even around. It's kind of annoying," Makoto pouted.

"Who will sing for us first?" Miss Raven asked. Involved in her conversation, Makoto didn't notice.

Haruka's hand flew into the air, and Miss Raven pointed her out. "Let's here some new voices. What is your name?"

"Haruka Amami!" Haruka announced. "Can you sing with a group?"

"Not today, dear," Miss Raven said, shaking her head. "Today, I want to hear your individual voices."

Haruka nodded. "Alright." She walked onto the stage, tripping up the stairs in the process (which earned a giggle from the audience), and turned to the band. "Could you guys play Taiyou no Jerashi? Do you know it? It's one of my favorite songs to sing."

The lead guitarist nodded. "Sure. We've kinda learned every song in the universe." He laughed. "Not literally, of course. But I happen to be a huge fan of J-pop. And Taiyou no Jerashi...that happens to fall into that category, along with the other 765 Productions songs."

Haruka giggled. "You're a fan? Aw, thanks!" She took the microphone from the keyboardist and waited to start singing. When the music had played and ended, and Haruka's song had started and stopped, everyone in the room was on their feet. The ones cheering loudest were the boys.

Makoto felt a twinge of jealousy. She shook it off. _No. Haruka is my friend, so I should be happy for her. Anyway, there's no guarantee I won't get the same response...!_

Haruka gave a slight bow. "Thank you. You guys are a wonderful crowd," she said, giggling. Then she waltzed off the stage and sat behind Makoto.

Makoto turned to her. "That was good."

"Thanks." Haruka cocked her head. "Are you OK? You should sing next."

Makoto chuckled nervously. "I intend to. But what should I sing? There are so many songs..."

Haruka grinned. "Oh, do I Want. That song suits you really well! But if you want to do something slower...I'd say Cheering Letter," she suggested. Makoto nodded slowly.

"OK, I'll do Cheering Letter now, since that one is purely a solo. I think I'll save I Want for a duet, or a trio. With Iori and Yukiho, maybe!" she said.

Haruka looked at Miss Raven. "Oh...she's about to take more volunteers. Get ready!"

"Who else would like to sing for us?" Miss Raven asked.

Makoto's hand shot up. "Over here!"

Miss Raven turned. "Oh, are we going to have a gentleman singing for us now?"

Makoto's hand lowered slowly, a smile frozen on her face. Iori chuckled smugly.

Miss Raven's smile faded. "Oh, um...is something wrong?"

"I'm a girl," Makoto said quietly.

Miss Raven smiled awkwardly. "Of course, dear. In this light, it's just..." She trailed off. "Um...would you like to sing?"

Makoto shook her head. "Oh...maybe next time. I think I'll watch." _After that, I'm not feeling it at all anymore..._

Miss Raven nodded. "Then, who shall sing next...? Abberleigh, is it?"

The girl named Abberleigh, who Makoto had met on her very first day, was raising her hand tentatively.

"Yes, ma'am. I'd like to sing," she said.

Miss Raven grinned. "Of course, dear."

Abberleigh walked onstage and whispered with the band. Then she turned. "Um, I'm singing Decode, by Paramore..."

"GO BUBBLES!" someone cheered. Makoto blinked. "Oh, I love that song! Sing your heart out, Bubbles!"

Abberleigh smiled. "Thanks, Grace. Uh, OK now..."

Abberleigh sang very well. Her voice flowed over the words and spilled out the notes. Makoto felt jealousy stab at her again when many of the boys cheered loudly, especially a blond boy with long hair and blue-grey eyes, who was yelling his heart out.

_Oh, I get it. That boy is her roommate, isn't he? _Makoto realized. She searched around for her own roommate. He was nowhere to be seen. _Maybe he just isn't in singing._

Then she saw him walk in. He must have been at least 10 minutes late. Miss Raven shot him a glare.

"Welcome, young sir. Do you know what time it is?" she asked sternly.

Makoto's roommate yawned. "Time for class...?"

"No." Miss Raven tapped her foot. "'Time for class' was ten minutes ago. You're late."

"Oops." That's all the boy said. He searched around and managed to find Makoto. Makoto turned away from him, but he approached her anyways. "I'd like to sit by my roommate."

Yukiho squeaked and left to go sit next to Abberleigh, and Makoto's roommate sat beside her. She glanced at him for a second before turning away again.

He didn't seem in a hurry to say anything either. Miss Raven called on first one person, then another, then another. Makoto's roommate didn't cheer for any of them, and he was almost totally silent the whole time. The only sound he made was the occasional cough or yawn. Once he even grunted.

Finally, Makoto turned to him. He gazed back at her. "I don't even know your name," Makoto pointed out. "Who are you?"

"My name...?" her roommate began. "Oh. Sorry. But I don't know your name either."

"I'm Makoto Kikuchi." Suddenly, Makoto realized that she and her roommate knew nothing about each other. Abberleigh and the golden-haired boy were chatting about something random. Hibiki and her roommate, the mysterious Kurayami Yume, were talking about Hibiki's pets. It seemed everyone in the room was close to their roommate already.

Everyone but Makoto. In a flash, she realized that her roommate probably didn't even know she was a girl. She waited for him to say something, probably something offensive. What she heard was:

"Oh. That's a pretty name, Miss Makoto."

Makoto felt her jaw drop. "Um...thank you," she muttered uncomfortably. _He could tell right away? He thinks my name is pretty? He's actually a GENTLEMAN?_

He nodded. "Now, my name. I'm Kentaro Nakamura, but you can just call me Kenchi. It's nice to meet you."

Makoto nodded slowly, blushing. "Y-yeah, you too..."

For the first time, she got a good glimpse of Kenchi. His hair was short, chin-length, and dark indigo. He had side-swept bangs covering his left eye. His eyes were a deep azure color. Makoto felt her breath catch in her throat. _He's actually pretty hot..._

"Are you alright, Miss Makoto?" Kenchi asked. "You've turned red." He smirked. "Oh, I get it. You're blushing."

"Am not!" Makoto countered, turning aside. Kenchi's comment made her blush even more. _A gentleman one second, a jerk the next. This guy is hard to figure out._

"It's kinda cute that you think I can't tell," Kenchi admitted, chuckling. "We really don't know each other very well, do we? I apologize for that. Are you going to go sing?"

Makoto nodded in reply. Miss Raven was in front of the stage. "Anyone else want to sing? This is our last one," she warned.

Makoto flung her hand up. "I think I'm ready now. I was nervous, but now I'm ready."

Miss Raven gazed at her sympathetically. "Of course, dear. I'd be glad if you sang for us now. Please come to the stage."

Makoto nodded. She stood and inched past Kenchi and the others in her row. Kenchi caught her wrist before she was past him completely. "Good luck," he whispered. "Not that you'll need it, I'm sure."

Makoto felt her face grow warm. Quickly, she yanked her wrist away. "Yeah, thanks," she muttered back. She walked quickly onto the stage and turned to the band.

"That must have been embarrassing earlier," the keyboardist commented. "I don't blame you for not wanting to come up right away. My name is Alexi, and this is Robbie." He gestured to the lead guitarist, who held up two fingers in a "peace sign".

Makoto nodded. "Oh, it was a little embarrassing. Nothing that's never happened before. Anyways, I'm ready now. Have you heard Cheering Letter?"

Robbie laughed. "Heard it and memorized it. Right, guys?"

Alexi and the other band members nodded.

"Alright then, I assume that's what you're singing. One, two three..."

As Makoto started to sing, her eyes automatically sought out Kenchi. She found him sitting with his eyes closed, smiling slightly. As she focused on getting the words right while examining her roommate, it occurred to her that she was singing a love song. _Why did I look for Kenchi...? _she wondered in her mind. She felt herself blushing, but she forced it down. _Just finish the song. He's watching. He's a gentleman. No, he's a jerk. No, he's sweet...ARGH! Just finish the song!_

When the song was over, everyone cheered. To her dismay, Makoto found that the girls cheered loudest of all—especially Abberleigh and her brunette, brown-eyed neighbor, the one who'd called Abberleigh Bubbles. Disappointed but happy nonetheless that anyone at all had cheered, Makoto waved to her audience and descended the stairs. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted one person standing amongst the girls and clapping fervently.

It was her mysterious roommate, Kenchi Nakamura.

**(Author's Note: To those of you who recognize Kenchi from MakoYukiSora...he's different. Yeah, this was part of the "early drafts" of Kenchi's character. I was still somewhat tentative about his personality and all. It's like his dark side took over and then just stayed forever. But, y'know...I think it's kinda cool anyways XD. Miki Hoshii was originally a part of the cast too, but I took her out because she literally didn't do anything but show up and sing a song. Sorry, Miki fans. I'm a Miki fan too, but she just didn't fit. And the last thing: Kurayumi Yume is an OC character.)**


	4. Chapter 4

"Wow, you did really well!" Abberleigh exclaimed to Makoto after the boyish girl had finished her song. Makoto chuckled nervously.

"You think so? I'm pretty sure I messed up..." she said.

"Nah, you did amazing," Grace laughed. "I'm Grace."

"Nice to meet you," Makoto said. She turned to where she had once been sitting (Abberleigh and Grace had kidnapped her after the song and dragged her over to their seats, while Haruka had returned to her previous spot) and stared for a moment at the boy sitting next to Haruka.

"Who's that?" Grace asked. Abberleigh nodded curiously.

Makoto shrugged. "Oh, just my roommate..."

"So you did get a male roommate? That's good for you," Abberleigh cheered. "What's his name?"

"Kenchi Nakamura," Makoto announced. She seemed bored, but Abberleigh caught a slight blush on her cheeks.

"You act like it's no big deal," she said smugly. "But I can tell you have a crush on him."

"Do not!" Makoto huffed. Her blush grew deeper. "That's ridiculous. I barely know him."

Abberleigh shrugged. "It isn't too hard to care about your roommate." She turned and sought out Deidara. He was chatting with Sasori about something. "My roommate Deidara and I are already really good friends."

"Lucky," Makoto pouted. "I didn't even learn Kenchi's name until, like, five minutes ago!"

Abberleigh giggled. "Oh, I'm sorry about that. But it's so obvious, Makoto. You either have a crush on him, or you just think he's cute," she teased.

Makoto sniffed indignantly. "Do not," she insisted. "He's a jerk."

"That's what I thought about my roommate at the start of the year," Grace commented. "But you should see us now!"

Abberleigh nodded. "Yes, Grace told me about that. She says that at the start of the year, she couldn't stand Shun. And now, she's totally in love with him!"

Grace blushed. "I'm not 'totally in love' with Shun! He's just really important to me," she said.

Makoto sighed. "You guys are lucky," she said suddenly. "Kenchi is hardly ever around. He's usually out doing something. But, whatever, that's alright..."

"Oh?" Grace began, a cheeky twinkle in her eye. "Is it now? Face it, you wish he was around more often so you could learn more about him, and then he'd fall in love with you, and ask you out, and eventually you'd get married, and..."

"Shut up!" Makoto snapped, and Grace burst out laughing. Abberleigh giggled. "What's so funny?" Makoto demanded.

"You! You say you don't care, but your face is bright red. And besides-"

"Forget it! I'm going back," Makoto moaned, stomping away. When she took a seat next to Kenchi (Haruka was singing off in a corner for a small crowd), Grace and Abberleigh laughed.

"She so likes him," Grace said. Abberleigh nodded.

She turned to stare at Deidara and tried to listen to his conversation. She only managed to pick up a few words.

"Just because...guarantee...mouths...scary, but...she's not..." Deidara was saying.

"I know...wood...human heart, you know...they...never accept...have to pay..." Sasori was muttering in reply.

Abberleigh moved closer.

This was a mistake.

"Abbi? What are you...? Did you hear that?!" Deidara demanded.

Abberleigh swallowed. Her usually happy-go-lucky roommate was blushing slightly and anger flashed in his gaze. His face was hardened with embarrassment, anger, and...

_Is that fear? What is he afraid of? _Abberleigh wondered. "No, um...that is...I only picked out a few words..."

"What words?" Deidara murmured.

"Well...you said something about scary mouths and a guarantee...I think...and then Sasori said he had a wooden human heart that they wouldn't accept...as...payment..."

Deidara laughed and the tension vanished from his face. "That's not at all what we were saying. Good."

Abberleigh let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "Oh, OK. So, um...what class do you have next?"

"I have art. It's the only other one I'm in. And you?" Deidara asked. Abberleigh beamed.

"I have art too! That's wonderful," she exclaimed. Deidara smiled.

"Yep. Hey, do you know where it is?"

Abberleigh's smile vanished. "Oh...well, no I don't," she admitted.

Deidara stood, chuckling. "That's OK, un. I think I saw it this way." He took Abberleigh's hand and started to lead her away. Abberleigh could see him blushing. Her own cheeks were slightly warmed. She turned away and realized her hand felt slightly moist. Deidara hissed something under his breath and his hand twitched.

_I didn't realize I got sweaty palms, _Abberleigh thought. _How odd._

When they reached the art room, Deidara quickly tore his hand out of Abberleigh's. "Abbi, your hand isn't moist, is it?" he asked nervously. He folded his hands and Abberleigh was suddenly very curious.

"Well, it is, but it's probably just sweaty palms," Abberleigh laughed. _Actually...I've never seen the palm of Deidara's hands. He's always covering them. How strange..._

Deidara nodded. "Yes...that makes sense." Then he simply pushed open the door with his shoulder and walked inside, immediately taking a place by the corner with his back turned to everyone else.

For the first time, Abberleigh realized that she really didn't know much about her roommate.


	5. Chapter 5

Grace blinked. "Oh. That's nice."

"Grace! I'm serious," Shun moaned. "Just...get me some ice or something."

"Why did you flip him if you knew he'd attack you back?" Grace sighed, walking into the kitchen.

"One, he was irritating every ounce of sanity right out of me. Two, because YOU told me to last year. And I never forgot," Shun explained. "But now I can barely feel my own brain. I didn't know Kyoya could punch so hard..."

Grace recalled the conversation from last year where she'd told her roommate to flip Kyoya when he got a chance. But she hadn't expected a rude comment and her simple request to turn into a full-out fight. Shun was bruised and his lip was bleeding. Grace heard that Kyoya fared no better, no worse. She retrieved some ice and entered the bedroom section of the dorm again. Shun was lying on his bed, positioned on his side, moaning occasionally. Grace placed the ice on his bruised temple gently, which made him moan again.

"Are you going to be OK?" she asked softly, leaning down until she was eye-level with Shun. He sighed.

"I've been in _way _worse conditions before, Grace. Trust me, I'll be fine."

Grace nodded. "Your lip is bleeding."

"He punched me in the jaw."

"Oh."

"So I kicked him in the stomach."

"Shun!"

Shun chuckled slightly. "What? He made me bleed, so I knocked his breath out."

Grace frowned. "Shun Kazami, young man, you know violence is never the answer," she huffed.

"Try telling that to Kyoya, Mom," Shun mocked.

Grace smiled sweetly. "I will, 'honey'. I will."

Shun smiled back at her. "I think Irene would kill you if she heard that."

Grace laughed. "So true!" she exclaimed. "I hope she would realize eventually that I was kidding."

"Me too," Shun agreed. "Oh...Grace?"

"Hm...yes?"

"Thank you."

Grace nodded again. "I know."

Shun shifted. "This ice is cold," he commented.

Grace nodded and lifted the pack of ice. She went to get a towel from the kitchen, but when she came back, Shun already had a towel on his bruise. Before Grace could ask who had given it to him, Chloe popped out from behind Shun's bed.

"Here's that contact. See, I knew you needed a towel. Some part of me was saying, 'go to Shun. He needs a towel.' So I came, naturally." She seemed to notice Grace for the first time. "Oh...hey Grace."

Grace frowned. "How did you get in our room?" she asked, confused.

"You left the door unlocked," Chloe informed her. "It wasn't too hard." Grace rolled her eyes.

"Why am I always doing that?" she asked herself.

"Because you're stupid?" Chloe laughed. "Anyways...so, what happened to my Shun?"

"He isn't yours," Grace moaned. "He has a girlfriend now."

"One day it will happen," Chloe hissed. "It. Will. Happen!"

"Right..." Shun muttered. "Right now it looks like Irene and I will be together for a long time."

"Like, until you're married a long time?"

"I guess...wait, what? Maybe..." Shun mumbled, blushing.

Grace giggled. "You're so adorable when you blush."

"W-what?" Shun blushed even more.

Chloe and Grace laughed. "You're so self-conscious about everything. It's so cute," Grace commented. "You try so hard to keep up that cool-person image, so when you laugh or you blush, you get all huffy and self-conscious."

Shun sat up. "No I don't..."

"Yes you do!" Chloe insisted. "Like, remember the first time I told you I liked you, and you said 'yeah, whatever', but you were blushing, and I said 'you're blushing', and you got all flustered?"

Shun shrugged. "So?"

"So, it's really cute when you try to be all cool even though you're spazzing out inside," Grace commented.

"I'm not cute," Shun complained.

"Yes you are! Especially when you start to get all defensive and whiny, like now..."

"I'm not whining! I'm complaining!"

Grace nodded. "Whatever you say. Oh hey, Chloe, want to make cookies with me?" she asked suddenly. Chloe shrugged.

"I guess. I don't bake though," she warned. "I'll probably butcher your cookies."

"But cookies don't have meat in them!" Grace laughed. "Silly Chloe, you can't butcher something that isn't meat. Oh wait—yes you can. Now I feel dumb. But let's make cookies!"

They ran off into the kitchen. Behind her, Grace could hear Shun:

"I don't whine...do I? When I'm complaining, does it sound like whining? I don't want Kyoya to hear that...but what if he does something and I complain and it sounds like..."


	6. Chapter 6

Makoto watched Kenchi unpack. They had been in the room for a week already, but his bags hadn't been touched until today. Every once in a while, he'd look up and smile at her, or raise an eyebrow. Sometimes he just turned right back to his work and muttered something. Finally, Makoto sighed.

"You're so quiet," she complained. "It's annoying."

Kenchi shrugged. "So you like the kind of person who won't shut up?" he questioned.

"I like the kind of person who listens when it's appropriate and talks when no one else is," Makoto explained. Kenchi nodded and stood. Then he crossed over to the bed Makoto was sitting on and sat beside her. Instinctually, Makoto inched away.

Kenchi chuckled. "Do you want me to talk, or listen?" Makoto blinked.

"Well...I don't know," she muttered. "Hey...before you knew anything about me, what gender did you think I was?"

Kenchi blinked in confusion. Then he laughed. "I guess I'm listening, huh?" he confirmed, still chuckling slightly. "Well, of course I always knew you were a girl."

Makoto blinked. "Oh. Even though I look like a boy?"

Kenchi cocked his head. "Hm. Looks like a girl to me."

"Really?" Makoto gasped. "I mean...my dad wanted me to be raised as a boy, so I was. When I sing...you saw, didn't you? Most of the people who cheered were girls. They call me a Prince, but all I really want..." She trailed off. Kenchi was smiling and shaking his head.

"You're self-conscious, huh? It's alright. As long as one person knows the truth, right?" he said.

Makoto blinked. "Here's the problem—they all know the truth."

Kenchi stared at her for a minute before he burst out laughing again. "That's just wrong," he exclaimed between peals of laughter. "They know you're a girl, but they're still in love with you, or..." He stopped talking and held up a finger.

Makoto blushed. "I mean, I don't mind it too much anymore...it's still annoying, but as long as I have any fans at all, I should be grateful, right?" she murmured.

Gradually, Kenchi stopped laughing. "I'm really sorry about that," he said, wiping tears from his eyes. "It's just that I know so many people...you know, my sister suffers the same fate? It's actually funny to watch. The difference is that no one knows she's actually a girl."

"Why not?"

"She won't tell them. And she won't let us tell them either."

"Why no—oh...I think I get it. That's really disturbing."

"You're telling me? I know that full well."

Makoto laughed. "I guess I'm lucky I have you at least," she said fondly.

Kenchi blushed ever so slightly. "Oh...I suppose, Miss Makoto."

Makoto blushed too. "Well, I mean...you're...a guy...and, you knew from the start...that makes me unbelievably happy, y'know?"

Kenchi nodded. "I understand. Is it hard? You know...being raised as a boy?"

Makoto slowly nodded back. "Um...yeah, it is. Well, I get teased pretty often, but that's the least of my troubles. I'm just tired of people getting it wrong. I mean, having female fans and female friends isn't all bad, but a guy liking me every once in a while would be nice too," she admitted.

Kenchi laid his hand on hers. "I know where you could find one of those," he said quietly. "Um...I should finish unpacking. It was nice talking—er, listening—to you, Miss Makoto."

Makoto blushed. "Y-yeah," she stammered. "Um...I'm gonna go...shower. Yes."

Kenchi nodded. "Um...have fun..."

_Why can't I stop blushing? _Makoto thought. _Kenchi..._

For the first time in a long time, probably ever, Makoto had achieved a male fan. And based on the day's instances, she had a feeling it would spread beyond that. But despite all her waiting, now that this person had finally come, Makoto had no idea what to do.

"Miss Makoto?"

Makoto turned towards the door. "Hm?" she called.

"You've been in there for at least 45 minutes," Kenchi's voice replied. "And, um...I have to go to the bathroom..."

Makoto blushed and giggled. "Sorry. I'll be out in a second." Quickly she turned the water off and stepped outside. Grabbing a towel, she wrapped it around her body tightly and rummaged for her clothes. "You can come in...wait, no, you can't. Just a minute." _Where are my pants? And my shirt?_

"I can come in?" Kenchi's voice confirmed.

"NO!" Makoto shouted, louder then she meant to. "I mean...I'm still not dressed. Don't come in."

"Hurry up..."

"I'm trying!"

Finally, Makoto's hands found fabric and she pulled her shirt up from behind the toilet. _How did you get over there? What the heck...?_

After finding the rest of her clothes, Makoto proceeded to put them on. Before she finished, someone banged on the door. "Hurry up already! It's been almost an hour!"

"I'm almost done!" Makoto insisted. "Ugh, fine. Hang on." She crawled back into the shower and closed the curtain, then sat curled on the floor. "OK. Come in."

"Are you coming out?" Kenchi asked.

"I'm not wearing pants yet. No, I'm not coming out. I'll just sit here behind the curtain with my eyes closed until..."

"No. That's awkward. I'll stand here and you wrap a towel around your legs and get out here," Kenchi ordered. Makoto sighed and wrapped the towel around her legs after rising to her feet. Then she stepped out from behind the curtain and walked to the door, clutching her blue jeans in one arm. When she opened the door, Kenchi caught her wrist and yanked her the rest of the way out, then flung himself past the door and slammed it shut. Makoto allowed herself a moment to catch her balance before she headed in-between the two beds to guard herself from both doors and finished dressing. Then she just sat there and sang softly to herself. She didn't realize how loud she'd gotten, or that her eyes were closed, until she heard Kenchi saying, "You're good."

Her eyes shot open and she looked at Kenchi. He was gazing down at her with his one exposed eye and smiling slightly. When she stopped singing, Kenchi's smile faded. "Don't stop," he pleaded. "Keep going."

Makoto nodded and picked up her song, Meisou Mind, where she'd left off. Kenchi's eyes closed and the smile returned to his face. When Makoto finished, Kenchi had her sing something else, and something else, until eventually a miniature concert was taking place in their room, complete with dances and even costumes at a few points. Kenchi made requests occasionally, and at the end of each song he'd cheer and hold up a makeshift "I love you Princess" sign.

It wasn't until the last song (she decided to do Cheering Letter again at the end) that Makoto saw the sign with clear eyes. It took her a moment to realize that Kenchi had added those two extra "Ss" to her usual title.

It took her even longer to realize that finally, in the eyes of just one boy, she was a princess.


	7. Chapter 7

It was late. Abberleigh knew that. But despite her best efforts, something was keeping her awake. She moaned in exhaustion and saw Deidara shift slightly in his bed. _Lucky roommate, _she thought wretchedly. _Stop taunting me with your sleeping figure._When nothing happened (meaning Deidara didn't spontaneously burst into flames and wake up or have a nightmare and wake up or fall out of bed and wake up), Abberleigh groaned and rolled over.

"You're still awake too?"

The voice startled Abberleigh. She'd thought her roommate was sleeping. When she rolled over to face him, she realized that he was indeed awake, and gazing at her. Abberleigh nodded to him. "I'm so tired that it's driving me nuts. Maybe that's why I can't sleep," she suggested.

Deidara chuckled. "I know how that is," he said.

Abberleigh sighed. "I want sleep. I want it," she whimpered.

Deidara nodded. "I know how you feel. Just close your eyes and try to sleep."

Abberleigh blinked. "Tell me a story," she insisted.

Deidara sighed, exasperated. "Fine. Once upon a time…"

"I don't like those stories. Tell me a different one."

"OK. So…do you like action stories?"

"Yes."

"OK. So once, this guy was walking down this…tightrope, and he fell, but he landed on this squishy thing, so he was like 'whoa, cool, I'm not dead,' but then he found out that the squishy thing he landed on was some thing's mouth. So now he's like, 'oh snap, now I'm gonna get eaten,' so he ran away. But then the thing chased him, and then it ate him, and he's all like, 'CRAP! NOW I'M DEAD!' but then he found out he wasn't dead.

"So now he's in this thing's stomach, and…he takes out one of its bones and stabs it and it implodes. But since it's imploding, he gets squished inside of it and then everyone dies. The end."

When Deidara looked over at Abberleigh, he found that, to his surprise, she was actually asleep. "Abbi?" When he received no reply, Deidara chuckled to himself and rolled over.

Abberleigh yawned. "I'm tired. But I managed to get to sleep last night. Thanks for the story," she added fondly to Deidara.

"If you'd actually heard it, I don't think you'd be thanking me. In the end, everyone died," Deidara laughed.

"That's terrible!" Abberleigh whined. "Why did you kill everyone?"

"Duh, that's kinda what I do," Deidara snorted. "Well…not anymore. Not since I came here. 'Cause of the rule, and all."

Abberleigh shrank away from him instinctually. "I really don't know anything about you," she said quietly. Deidara nodded absently.

"Abbi, I wanna show you something. Come over here," Deidara ordered, leading Abberleigh to a deserted music room and walked immediately to a corner. The palms of his hands were turned in and cupped slightly. Abberleigh could see nothing. But as they walked further into the room, Deidara closing the door behind them, his hands slowly began to uncurl. "Look, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret; are you ready?"

Abberleigh nodded slowly. "I guess…"

Slowly, Deidara sat on the ground and laid his hands palms-up on his legs. "Ta-da."

Abberleigh crouched down and blinked. "Um…you have very normal hands…" But then she saw them. Snaking out of a gap in Deidara's hands were two pink tongues.

Abberleigh screamed. "Shush!" Deidara hissed, throwing a hand over her mouth. Abberleigh struggled, but eventually she stopped trying to talk and quieted. Then she remembered the mouths and gazed up at him. He was blushing madly. Abberleigh could barely tell what his original skin tone had been. Then, slowly, his hand pulled away. Abberleigh was panting with fear.

"W-what are those th-things?" she whispered. Deidara looked away.

"Well, they're part of my kekei genkai…"

"What the heck is that?"

"Forget it, OK? You think I'm a freak, don't you? Never mind."

"Deidara…"

"No, just..." Deidara sighed. "Forget it, Abbi. I thought someone like you might accept me, but I was wrong."

"You weren't wrong!" Abberleigh cried. "I mean...I don't think I'll ever understand where they came from or why they're there, but...but it's OK. Because even though you have a freakish deformity..." She trailed off.

Deidara laughed dryly. "Thanks," he muttered.

"That's not what I meant," Abberleigh insisted. "I just-"

"Abberleigh, just stop," Deidara whispered. "We have to go. Come quickly."

Abberleigh stood. Deidara watched her stand. He was still blushing. To hide this, he turned away quickly and stalked off to class. _What's going on? Why won't he talk to me, or look at me for that matter..._

It took her until they were in class for the answer to occur to her. That was when all the pieces of the puzzle fit into place—the puzzle that started when Deidara slapped his hand on Abberleigh's mouth in the room and ended now. His awkwardness afterwards, the mouths on his palms—all now made perfect sense. Deidara obviously had a crush on Abberleigh. And in the room, in a way, he had kissed her.

Abberleigh blushed. _I wonder...am I right? And is that why he stayed like that even after I stopped trying to talk? Does he really like me? _She sighed.

_ I know nothing about him..._

**_(Author's Note: _****I feel the need to say that this chapter is probably the only time you'll ever see me use the "crud-but-not-crud" word in a book. Face it, I'm so goody I won't even spell it out. But I put in in this chapter because it fits Deidara's personality more, and also the feeling he was-conveying, I suppose?-through the "story". The end.)**


	8. Chapter 8

"Who wants to play truth or dare?" Grace squealed. It was raining outside, which was the place most people had been planning to go. Bored, tired, and out of ideas, Grace had invited some friends to come over. Eight additional people had shown up—Makoto and Kenchi, Kurayami and Hibiki, Deidara and Abberleigh, and Jo and Kyoya. Chazz and Blue had also been invited (by Shun, since Grace refused to speak to Blue), but due to complications (meaning Blue was suffering from extreme anger management issues and Chazz was dead asleep), the pair hadn't shown up.

At the mention of the popular yet often revealing game truth or dare, hands flew into the air and Grace's rather bored party guests perked up.

"Let's start with Grace, since this is her party," Abberleigh suggested. For today, she had pulled all of her hair to the left side of her head and made it more wavy. Grace had already told her a hundred times how wonderful she looked.

Grace nodded now. "Alright, then. Who to choose, who to choose...Kyoya!"

Kyoya moaned. "Fine."

"Truth or dare?"

Kyoya thought for a moment. "Truth. I'm scared of what you'll make me do if I pick dare."

"Darn it," Grace muttered under her breath. "OK then—that day on the stage during you and Shun's fight, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking, 'get me off this stage with this idiot, and why the heck am I acting like I'm going along with this? Oh yeah, so he'll be shocked when I slap him. Heh. Heh heh.'"

Shun glared at him. Kyoya grinned and face him. "Shun. Truth or-"

"Dare," Shun cut in. "Whatever."

Kyoya shrugged. "Um...go kill yourself."

"You'd let me do that?" Shun gasped happily.

"SHUN!" Grace snapped. "No! Bad! Kyoya, pick something else!"

Kyoya groaned. "OK, fiiine...Shun, go...eat some poisonous fruit. I don't know."

"No. Something that won't kill," Grace ordered.

"But I want him to die," Kyoya complained. "Fine then. I dare you to answer this question truthfully. Do you hate me?"

Shun snorted with laughter. "_That's _an understatement. OK, my turn, right? Um...Abberleigh, is it?"

Abberleigh nodded. "Yes," she replied.

"Truth or dare?" Shun asked. Abberleigh shrugged.

"Truth, I guess," she said.

Shun turned to Grace. "You do it. I'm not good at asking questions."

Grace shook her head. "No way! Ask something embarrassing. Like, who do you like?" Grace suggested.

Shun nodded. "You heard her. There's your question, I guess," he muttered.

Abberleigh blushed. "Well...my mom and dad for one. But that's not what you meant, is it? The answer is no one," she said truthfully. "But, I mean...there are some people who like me. I don't like them back. Makoto! Your turn!"

Makoto groaned. "OK, OK. I'll save you any trouble. Dare."

"I dare you to kiss Kenchi," Abberleigh said, a sneaky smile spreading across her face.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Makoto cried, blushing madly. Kenchi's cheeks turned bright red and he inched away from his roommate. Abberleigh laughed. "F-forget it, you can't do things that involve other people, that's just not fair..."

"Either you kiss him, or he kisses you. But either way..." Abberleigh trailed off. Grace grinned. Kenchi was leaning toward her, cupping her chin in his hand. Makoto blushed. But just as his lips were about to reach hers, he turned her head and kissed her cheek, a triumphant smirk on his face. Then he released her chin and looked at Abberleigh.

"You never said it had to be the lips," he said simply. Makoto shifted uncomfortably and tried to force her blush down.

"He's right," Grace pointed out. "I hate Loop-Hole Detectors. They just waltz in, spot a bunch of loop-holes, and spoil the fun."

Kenchi giggled. "Gee, I'm sorry I'm good at that."

Grace stuck her tongue out at him. "Annoying Loop-Hole Detector."

"Irritating Hostess."

"It's my turn!" Makoto shouted, a bit impatiently. "I pick Kurayami. Truth or dare?"

The mysterious Kurayami Yume lifted her pale head and opened her silver eyes. "Truth."

Grace blinked. She hadn't expected such a mysterious and secretive girl to pick truth.

Makoto seemed to be thinking. Finally, she asked, "Where are you from?"

Kurayami smiled darkly. "Where am I from...? Simple. I am born of darkness."

The room fell silent and seemed to get a little colder. Grace felt a chill run down her spine and she moved closer to the eternally-stoic Shun, who was, of course, completely unfazed.

"My turn. How about you? The girl-boy?"

Deidara blinked and pointed at himself. "Me?"

"Yes. You, girly-man. Tell me, truth or dare?"

Deidara sighed. "I don't like these names you're giving me...but I pick dare."

Kurayami tipped her head. "Oh, I've got one!" she exclaimed. "Pretty boy. Do you see that window?"

Deidara nodded slowly. "Please don't ever call me that..."

"Go open it and stand there. Don't come back until I tell you," Kurayami ordered. Deidara laughed.

"That's it? Too easy. I thought you were gonna tell me to cut myself in the face or something," he admitted. Then he stood and walked to the window, opening it. "Too easy..."

That was when he realized why Kurayami had chosen that window. That window had now screen in it at all and was especially subject to the wind and rain of the storm outside. Deidara was pelted with raindrops and battered by the freezing winds. "I lied! It's not easy! IT'S NOT EASY!" he cried.

Grace laughed and huddled against Shun for protection against the wind. Kurayami smiled triumphantly. "I never give easy dares, Miss," she announced.

"I'm a BOY!"

"I know that." Kurayami observed the freezing subject of the storm, clinging to the windowpane while the fierce winds whipped his hair around. She nodded. "Just a second longer." Then she looked over at the roommates, who were also cold, and smirked. Makoto was burying her face in Kenchi's shoulder. Grace was huddled against Shun. Jo was clinging desperately to Kyoya's arm. Finally, Kurayami addressed Deidara. "Alright, close it."

Deidara slammed the window shut and ran to his place beside Abberleigh, soaking wet. "I knew that sounded too easy," he murmured. Abberleigh giggled and patted his shoulder.

"Sorry, Buddy," she said sadly.

Deidara turned to Hibiki. "You, Ponytail Girl. Truth-"

"NO! I WANT DARE!" Hibiki interrupted. "Dare! Gimme a dare now!"

Deidara nodded. "I dare you to run into the hallway and yell the first thing that pops into your head," Deidara said, shrugging. "Yeah, let's do that."

Hibiki nodded and stood. She ran into the hallway and threw open the door, then ran outside and shouted, "I'M RUNNING AND SCREAMING! YAY!" Then Hibiki just walked inside, sat, and pointed at Jo. "You! Truth or dare?"

Jo shrugged. "Usually I pick dare, but I'm scared of you," she admitted. "So truth."

"Who do you like? Is it Kyoya? Do you like Kyoya?" Hibiki asked, the questions tumbling out of her mouth.

"Crow and Kyoya, partially, and yes," Jo answered. She blushed. "But Crow too. He's the more 'real' one."

"Aw!" Grace squeaked. "I knew it!"

Jo nodded. "Kenchi."

Kenchi shrugged. "Um, dare."

"I DARE YOU TO-"

"That's already been done," Kenchi cut in. "Pick something else."

"Are you a mind reader or something?" Jo asked. "Anyways, Makoto was dared to kiss you. I was going to say the other way around."

"It ended up being the other way around anyways." Kenchi shrugged again. "Something else."

"Fine. I dare you to answer this question…_truthfully_. Do you have a crush on Makoto?" Jo probed.

Kenchi sighed, exasperated. "This again? Why do people keep asking me. The answer is no."

Jo pursed her lips. "I said truthfully," she pointed out.

Kenchi nodded. "I know," he said.

Makoto seemed to get a little sadder.

"Anyways, it's back to you, Grace," Kenchi announced.

"Truth," Grace said.

Kenchi turned to Jo. "What do I ask?" he whispered in her ear. Jo whispered something back and Kenchi nodded.

"Do you ever plan on getting back together with Blue?" he asked. Grace's smile faded. The mood in the room suddenly turned serious.

"No," Grace hissed through gritted teeth. "Not until he apologizes."

Jo nodded. "I understand," she whispered in her sister's ear. "I'm sorry."

Grace shook her head. "Whatever. I have a question for everyone: what is your biggest fear? Shun? Let's start with you, and we'll go in a circle."

Shun blushed slightly. "My biggest fear...well, to be honest, it's the number 10."

The room went silent. Grace, Jo, and Kyoya burst out laughing. "WHY?" Grace demanded, laughing.

Shun's blush deepened. "W-well...um, my mom died on the tenth day of the tenth month when I was ten years old. So that number has always been kinda foreboding to me..." he admitted. Grace stopped laughing.

"Oh...so it has to do with your mom..." she murmured. "Sorry for laughing."

"It's OK, 'Mom'," Shun insisted, smiling. It was a special kind of smile that only Grace would ever understand. It was a smile that said, "You're my fire now. We're in this together. So it's OK."

Grace smiled back at him. "My biggest fear is death. Anything that can kill me—fire, heights, cliffs, hurricanes, tornadoes, tidal waves, dinosaurs, giant fruit, too much orange juice…and all that."

Jo blinked. "Too much orange juice? What?"

Grace shook her head. "It's a dream I had. I drowned in a sea of orange juice."

Jo nodded. "OK."

Grace gestured to Jo. "Your turn."

Jo turned to face her. "My biggest fear is fear of fear," she announced. Grace chuckled.

_Only Jo..._

Kyoya shrugged. "I'm scared of the Flirty Girls. That's that."

Shun cringed. Kyoya shuddered. Led by Shirley Stone and Chloe's twin sister Zoe Carpenter, the Flirty Girls were a well-known horror to any attractive teenaged boy who'd been at Miss Raven's long enough. All those girls wanted was a kiss, but they were willing to do _anything _ to get it. And oftentimes, once the girls got their wish, they'd cling to it for up to a half an hour. And both Shun and Kyoya were some of the few survivors who'd been able to fight them off.

Grace nodded. "Hibiki?"

"Fear of animal cruelty," Hibiki said simply. "I'd be terrified if some freaky dog skinner came and tried to make my precious Inumi's pelt into a coat!"

"I doubt that'll ever happen, but OK..." Grace said. "Kurayami?"

"Light," Kurayami said. "I fear the light."

Grace swallowed hard. "Um...yeah...Abberleigh?"

"Basketballs!" Abberleigh exclaimed. "I'm always afraid they'll hit me in the face, or the chest, or the leg, or the brain...did I mention the face?"

Grace laughed. "Alrighty then...Deidara?"

Deidara shrugged. "Nothing."

Grace stared at him. Deidara sighed at last, giving in. "Fine. After today, that girl," he said, pointing at Kurayami. Kurayami smiled.

"Thank you very much," she said fondly.

Grace turned to the last pair. "Makoto? Kenchi?"

Makoto blinked. "I don't know. I mean, I have lots of fears, but it's hard to say which is my biggest. There's cockroaches, and spiders...oh, and I'm claustrophobic...did you know that? And surgery. Surgery is terrifying, all those needles and such...but I guess its mostly claustrophobia. I always feel like the walls are closing in on me," she admitted.

Kenchi nodded. "I know how that is, Miss Makoto. I was that way for a while. But then I realized that walls are walls, and walls don't move. Ever. So now, my new biggest fear is giant, dancing purple dinosaurs."

Grace tipped her head. "You mean like Barney?"

Kenchi nodded and smiled sheepishly. "He's creepy. So is Elmo."

Makoto laughed. "You watch too many American kid's shows at night," she insisted.

Kenchi laughed back. "I know," he said. "Tomorrow I'm going to see if we get Japanese channels here so I can watch some good anime."

"If you find one, tell me," Makoto ordered. Kenchi nodded.

Grace looked outside. "Look, the storm stopped," she commented. "Guess we can all go outside now."

"Actually, I wanna stay here," Jo said. "This is fun! Oh, next, let's play spin the bottle!"

"NO FLIPPIN' WAY!" Makoto and Deidara shouted at the same time. Grace laughed. or the first time in a while, everyone was free from worry, secrets, and sadness. Everyone was smiling, enjoying themselves, and laughing.

And Grace was no exception.


	9. Chapter 9

Kenchi sighed. "Will you stop moping please, Miss Makoto?" he pleaded.

Makoto looked over at him from her place in the corner. "Oh…I'm moping?"

"You've been sitting in that corner hugging your knees to your chest for fifteen minutes. And it's weird to not see you smile, Miss Makoto," Kenchi informed her.

Makoto stood slowly. "Sorry. It's just…there's something that's bothering me," she said quietly.

Kenchi knew what it was. At truth or dare the day before, when asked if he had a crush on Makoto, his answer had been short, not-so-sweet, and to the point—_no._

But no one had been able to see into his thoughts, or detect the secret, hidden loop-hole that Kenchi had discovered. That evening, his thoughts had gone something like this:

_Of course I don't just have a crush on her. That's an understatement. Quite literally, I'm in love. I'm in love with her. So soon? Yes, indeed. So then, the answer is a simple no—having a crush is a sad understatement._

Naturally, he'd wanted to keep any feelings for the girl a secret. So his answer had been "no", to conceal it. But Makoto had been among those who truly believed him. Based on how she was reacting, Kenchi could only assume that she had feelings for him too. He was considering telling her when he saw Makoto take a black towel from the kitchen, wrap it around her head, and sit moping in the corner again. Desperate to revive her spirits while simultaneously keeping his feelings secret, Kenchi stood and walked over to her. "Sing for me," he urged. Makoto faced him.

"Um…OK." She stood. "But I'm not in a very happy mood, and the only sad song I really feel like singing is Marionette no Kokoro. I'd sing it, but my voice is way too powerful, and it sounds weird…"

"Show me," Kenchi ordered. "I'll try to help you."

Makoto shrugged and started to sing. She'd only sang the first sentence when Kenchi stopped her. "I found your trouble spot."

"Really now." Makoto rolled her eyes. "I've always known where it was."

"Try singing softer," Kenchi suggested.

"I never would have thought!" Makoto said sarcastically. "I've tried that. It just sounds even weirder."

Kenchi shrugged. "OK. Then what do you want me to do? It's weird seeing you mope like this."

Makoto shrugged. "I don't know."

Kenchi sighed. "Come sit," he invited her. "I have to tell you something."

Confused, Makoto sat beside him on the bed. "Yeah?" she prompted.

Kenchi took a deep breath. _Here goes nothing... _"Why are you moping? Is it because I said I didn't have a crush on you yesterday?"

After a moment's hesitation, Makoto nodded.

"I'd found a loop-hole. I didn't want you to know how I felt," Kenchi admitted. "To say I had a crush on you would be a sad understatement, Miss Makoto."

Makoto shifted and blushed slightly. "Oh...?"

"I think I'm in love with you, Miss Makoto."

Makoto looked like she might fall off the bed, or throw up blood, or spontaneously combust—or even do all three. She shifted uncomfortably again, but the color had returned to her cheeks. There was silence. Neither one moved. Neither one spoke. For a moment, it seemed like neither one breathed. Then, finally, Makoto opened her mouth.

"I, um…I like you too," she muttered.

"But I don't _like _you," Kenchi pointed out. "I said I _loved _you. That's different."

Makoto moved closer to him. "I-I know…I mean…I really like you…no, more then that…I just can't say it…"

Kenchi frowned. "Come on, it isn't that hard," he prompted. "I love you. That's all."

Makoto nodded.

"Now it's your turn."

Makoto turned to him. The look in her eyes was a mixture of many different emotions; strain, sadness, love…but most of all, relief. "I…I love you," she whispered, her voice soft, so quiet Kenchi almost missed it.

Gently, he cupped her chin in his hand and leaned in towards her, just as he had that evening when Abberleigh had dared Makoto to kiss him. But this time, when he reached her lips, he didn't turn away. They kissed until Kenchi started to lose breath and pulled away. Makoto was crying. Kenchi giggled and wiped her tears away. "Don't cry, Princess," he pleaded. Makoto threw her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder.

"You have no idea…so long, I've waited…and now…" Her words came out choked in between her sobs.

"Stop weeping, then. If you're so happy, you should be smiling," Kenchi murmured in her ear.

"I know…but, I just can't stop…I'm so relieved…" She trailed off. "Thank you," she finished. "Thank you so much…"

"For loving you?" Kenchi confirmed, chuckling. "It's my pleasure, Princess Makoto."

Makoto let out a contented sigh. For the rest of the day (classes had already ended), they sat there like that, telling each other random facts about themselves, until the sun sank into the earth, and the shining, silver moon was floating in the sky in its place, when the two finally parted and slept.

All night, Kenchi dreamt of his princess.

**(****_Author's Note: _****Usually, I don't go out of order like this. But I needed to do this romantic chapter from Kenchi's point of view, to make it that much more romantic. I might do this a couple more times, but for the most part I'll be staying in order from now on.)**


	10. Chapter 10

"He WHAAAT?!" Abberleigh cried. "NO WAY! I KNEW IT! I! TOTALLY! KNEW IT! I knew he liked you!"

"But he doesn't like me," Makoto huffed. "He loves me. And he kissed me too."

"Good for you! No, wait…GREAT for you! I can't believe it!" Abberleigh gushed.

Grace looked over. "What's going on? It's the middle of art class."

"Makoto got a first kiss," Abberleigh explained. "Kenchi kissed her!"

Grace sat still for a minute. Then she leapt to her feet, flung herself at Makoto, and squeezed her in a hug. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? I LOVED YOU! AND YOU LEFT ME! WHY? WHY?!"

Makoto shoved her away. "You're creepy," she stated bluntly, moving away.

"I loved you..."

"Stop it..."

Abberleigh giggled. "I can't believe it. I'm so happy for you. I'm so glad-"

"Make way, make way! The great Iori-chan is ready for class!" Iori interrupted, entering the classroom. With her was a small boy with short, messy blond hair and large, brown eyes. Both he and Iori were carrying a small stuffed rabbit. The boy also had a plate with a piece of cake on it.

"Who is the little guy?" Abberleigh asked.

Grace smiled. "Oh, that's Iori's roommate. Isn't he adorable?" she squealed.

Abberleigh cocked her head. "What's his name? And how old is he?"

Grace giggled. "His name is Mitsukuni Haninozuka. But you can call him Honey," she explained. "He's 17 years old."

"THAT KID IS SEVENTEEN?" Abberleigh shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. Iori cleared her throat impatiently.

"Everyone should be currently paying attention to me, thank you," she huffed. The boy Grace had called Honey grinned and trotted over to where Abberleigh was standing.

"Hi there! I'm Honey. Have we met?" he asked, his head tipping slightly.

Abberleigh shook her head. "N-no...I'm Abberleigh," she introduced. "Are you sure you're seventeen?"

Honey giggled and nodded. "Yep, I'm sure. Looks can be deceiving, Abbi-chan...oh, do you want to meet Usa-chan?"

He was holding the stuffed rabbit's paw and sticking it out to Abberleigh. Abberleigh smiled. "Is this Usa-chan?" she asked. Honey nodded expectantly. "Hi, Usa-chan. I'm Abberleigh." She took the rabbit's paw and shook it, as she would a human's hand.

Honey giggled again and turned to Grace, who instantly threw herself on her knees and staring hugging Honey and screaming random things, like "Ohmigosh, you're so stinkin' cute! But I thought you never went anywhere without Mori-senpai? Is he here too? Oh hey, you're rooming with Iori-chan! Cool!"

"Takashi isn't here," Honey said sadly, presumably answering one of Grace's questions. "We were losing so many members of the club to vacations and this school that Tama-chan made him stay behind. But after I met Ri-chan and Charles, I feel a little better!"

Grace nodded sadly. "Do you want me to attempt to pick you up and run around the room? Oh, and I'm Grace."

"Yes please, Grace-chan!" Honey cheered. Abberleigh shook her head, smiling, and turned away.

"OK...now, if I go like this...now you put your hand on my shoulder..."

"You mean like this?"

"Exactly! Now hold on...got it! Whoa, you're kinda heavy..."

_What club was he talking about? And are there more members at the school? I wonder... _Abberleigh thought.

Iori stomped her foot. "Um, hello! Iori-chan has entered the room. Shouldn't you all be praising me? Ugh...never mind," she pouted.

Makoto eyed her evenly. "Iori."

Iori smirked and lifted her chin, eyeing Makoto back defiantly. "Makoto." Without another word, she stalked over to an empty canvas, lifted a brush, dipped it in paint, and began to work on her art piece.

Makoto grunted and Abberleigh chuckled. "You two should really learn to get along," she commented.

"Oh, we get along," Iori said.

"We just aren't friends," Makoto added. "Not good friends, at least."

Abberleigh nodded and proceeded to simply watch Grace run around the room randomly with Honey on her back. She looked like she was going to fall over and die soon, but Abberleigh assumed she kept going so that Honey could enjoy his time at Miss Raven's without the one he'd mentioned earlier, Takashi.

Grace finally stopped. "I'm tired now, Honey, but we can do that again some other time!" She knelt down slowly and Honey hopped off her back.

"OK," Honey agreed. "Thanks, Grace-chan! I'm gonna go paint a picture of cake now!"

"I'll go paint a flower, then."

All at once, the doors flew open again and Abberleigh jumped slightly, startled at the sudden noise. She turned and examined who had entered—they were two boys, twins—and they were smirking slightly. One twin was leaning lazily on the other's shoulder.

"Sorry we're late," they said at once.

The teacher, Ms. Durant, turned to them and frowned. "Class started almost half an hour ago," she pointed out.

One of the twins shrugged. "We overslept," he said, as if that was all the information Ms. Durant should need.

Ms. Durant frowned. "That's no excuse, boys," she said.

Abberleigh tapped her foot impatiently. _Why do I feel like I recognize them? This is annoying...why can't I remember?_

Frowning, the boy who'd been leaning on his brother straightened. He sighed and turned to his brother. Suddenly, he was cupping his brother's chin in his hand and angling his face towards his own. Abberleigh blinked in surprise. Their faces seemed incredibly close.

"Kaoru, I told you to get up earlier. Now we wound up late," he pouted. His brother frowned.

"I'm sorry, Hikaru...but you could have just gone without me..." he reminded him.

The other twin smiled warmly. "I could never leave you behind."

"Hikaru..."

"Kaoru..."

Ms. Durant seemed almost in tears. "You know, j-just forget it...! You can waltz in whenever you like, boys!" she insisted, her mood instantly changed. "S-so beautiful...forbidden love..."

Grace burst out laughing. The twin who'd been called Hikaru released his brother's face. Both of them had an almost evil looking smirk across their face. Grace ran up and embraced them both in a giant hug.

"That was a great act, guys!" she snorted. "Welcome to class."

"What act?" the twins said simultaneously in fake innocence. One of them snickered.

Abberleigh walked over to greet them. "Hi, I'm Abberleigh Johnson," she introduced. Grace turned to her. So did the twins.

"Nice to meet you," they said, smiling flirtatiously. Grace's hold on them, plastering their arms to their sides, prevented them from doing anything flirty, but Abberleigh could tell that was the only thing keeping them. The thought made her laugh, as she slowly realized who they were—and she also realized that she knew Honey as well.

"You two are from Ouran Academy," she told herself, though she was speaking towards Grace and the twins. "You're in this anime I watch. Honey, too. And Grace has also seen it."

The twins nodded. "Yeah, that's us," one of them said.

Abberleigh nodded back and examined them again.

Their hair was a mix between a pale pink and a pastel orange. Abberleigh decided to go with the pastel orange, since it was a more masculine color. They both had the same gold eyes. _They're adorable, _Abberleigh decided. One twin parted his bangs on the right, and the other on the left. Other then that, the two were identical.

"So, um...I kinda know your names...but I forgot. And which one is which?" Abberleigh asked.

Still trapped in Grace's hug, the twin with the right-side bangs struggled to free his arm enough to shake her hand. "I'm Hikaru Hitachiin," he announced. Unsuccessful at freeing his arm, he sighed and stopped trying. Grace squeezed them harder.

"And I'm—ooww—Kaoru Hitachiin. It's nice to meet you," the twin with the left-side bangs said. Abberleigh noticed another difference—Hikaru's voice was lower then his brother's, and Kaoru's voice was more pitchy. Abberleigh grinned.

"I'll try to remember," she laughed. "Now, Grace, you're hurting them. Let go."

"NEVER!" Grace wailed. "MAKOTO LEFT ME, SO NOW THESE ARE MY TWINS! MINE!"

Abberleigh groaned. She spent the rest of class trying to pry Grace off of the twins. She refused to let go even when they all had to move to the next class, PE, which proved difficult for everyone. But Abberleigh couldn't help but feel happy. She promised herself that no matter what, she would try her best to be the one who could tell the twins apart the easiest, now that's she'd finally remembered who they were.

**(Author's Note: You know how in the dscription, I forgot to mention Ouran High School Host Club? Yeah, they're here two. Just the twins and Honey though. They don't do much, but you know...they're the twins and Honey.)**


	11. Chapter 11

Grace shook Shun gently. "Get up, Mr. Hot-shot. Sign-ups for the talent showcase are going on," she said, smiling.

Shun moaned. "I did it last year. But not this year."

"Yes, you have to! You and Kyoya came so close last year. I want you to try again," Grace said.

Shun grunted. "And get slapped again? He slaps hard, and it hurt. So no."

"Please?" Grace whined. Shun groaned at her loudly, sat up, and crawled out of bed.

"Fine!" he snapped. "But only because it's you. And I'm not singing."

Grace shrugged. "Alright. But you will act."

Shun nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever…" He leaned down and opened up one of his drawers.

"What are you looking for?"

"My jacket."

Grace suddenly realized that Shun wasn't wearing his trademark green jacket, only one of his skin-tight black shirts. "I've gotten so used to seeing you in it that I didn't even realize it was gone."

Shun shrugged. "Well, I don't wear it to bed, you know."

Grace nodded. "I know," she said. She blinked. "Do you always wear that shirt to bed?"

"I have others," Shun said simply. "I just chose this one today."

"And every other time I've seen you without the jacket," Grace added. Shun shrugged again. "Hurry up. We have to go sign up."

Shun pulled a green jacket out of the drawer and pulled his arms through the sleeves/holes. Then he nodded. "Let's go."

"And Shun is signing up for acting. Put Kyoya and Chazz in acting too, and Kyoya in singing," Grace ordered. Miss Raven nodded and put down all the names and sections in her book.

"Alright, my dear. And you are in acting and singing, right?"

Grace nodded.

"And I'm in all three, Miss Raven!" Makoto's voice shouted from across the room. Grace turned and sure enough, Makoto and Kenchi were by the door. Makoto had a hand on her hip, and Kenchi was leaning against the doorframe.

Miss Raven nodded to her. "Kenchi?"

"Gee, Miss Raven, as fun as embarrassing yourself on a stage in front of the whole school—and then some—sounds, I think I'm gonna have to pass," Kenchi said sarcastically. "Makoto is the only one signing up."

"So you're in all three too then," Miss Raven said, as if she hadn't heard him. "Perfect."

"But I said-"

"I know what you said, young man," Miss Raven said sternly. "And I didn't appreciate your tone. I _also _don't appreciate your rebellious attitude. So as punishment, you're participating."

"Yay!" Kenchi exclaimed in mock happiness rolling his eyes. He turned and started walking away. "C'mon, Ohime-sama, let's go."

"Hai!" Makoto trotted after Kenchi, following him like a lost puppy.

Grace stared after them. "They are SO going to be together forever. Unlike some people," she added bitterly. "I'm envious."

Miss Raven placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. "It must be hard, dear. I know. If you ever need me, I'll be in my office, OK?" She gave Grace one last comforting smile before she walked off to greet two first-graders who had just walked in to sign up.

Grace left and returned to her room. Shun was waiting. "You signed them up, I presume?" he asked. Grace nodded. "Good. I took the liberty of telling them for you. You're welcome." He wiped a bit of blood away from his ear and rubbed his temple.

"Did you and Kyoya get in a fight again?" Grace asked sympathetically.

"His mouth is bleeding now."

"SHUN!"

"What? He made my ear bleed."

"So?! Don't punch his jaw!"

"I didn't." Shun licked a bit of blood off of his hand.

Grace blinked.

"I _kicked_ his jaw."

"SHUUUN! Bad boy!"

Shun shrugged and carelessly licked up the rest of the blood on his hand. "He was being cruel."

Grace sighed. "Revenge gets you no where, young grasshopper."

"…you're a grasshopper."

"No I'm not," Grace huffed. "I'm a cicada."

Shun sighed back at her, wiped more blood more his ear, and licked it up again. "Right…"

Grace swallowed hard. "Will you stop eating your own blood? It's creepy."

"No." He licked a drop from his cheek.

"That's really emo…" Grace whimpered. "And seriously creepy."

Shun shrugged again. "I am an emo," he pointed out. Another drop of blood fell from his ear, but he caught it on his hair and licked it up. "Anyways, I'm not singing, right?"

Grace shook her head. "Nope, no songs for you. But will you help me figure out a song?"

"How about _you _do gothic metal this year?" Shun suggested.

Grace laughed. "That'd be great. I'll do Evanescence. What about…oh, I know! Missing? Or Lithium?"

Shun blinked. "Never heard either of them. So I really don't care."

Grace sighed. "Fine. Um, I think I'll do Lithium…no no! Lacrymosa! Now I just have to find an opera chorus…"

Shun stared at her. "…I'm not going to ask."

Grace nodded. "It has an opera chorus in it."

"Really now."

"Yup!" Grace exclaimed standing up. "Hey, I'm gonna go talk to Miss Raven about finding an opera chorus, OK? See ya!" With that, Grace stood and headed out the door. She could hear Shun chuckling behind her.


	12. Chapter 12

"I can't believe it," Makoto laughed. "Miss Raven totally got back at you. You really shouldn't have been so sarcastic, Oji-sama."

Kenchi shrugged. "Whatever. At least now we get to do a romantic acting scene together," he added with a wink. Makoto blushed madly. "Oh, you're blushing again? That's cute." He smirked.

Makoto scowled. "You're such a jerk," she pouted.

Kenchi laughed. "I know," he said smugly. "Ohime-sama, hand me a script, will you?"

Makoto's blush deepened slightly. _He started calling me Ohime-sama recently, _she thought. _Every time he does, it just makes me want to kiss him…_

She lifted a script from the floor, one taken from an episode of a Japanese anime they'd managed to find. Working together, the pair had translated the episode from Japanese to English and chosen a favorite scene. Kenchi snatched the script from her hand, flipped it open to the scene they were doing, and read silently for a few minutes. Makoto sat beside him and leaned across to read her lines. Kenchi chuckled.

"Why don't you get your own?" he asked.

Makoto shrugged. "I like sharing more…?"

"You just wanted to be close to me," Kenchi teased.

"Did not," Makoto said stubbornly. "I just wanted to-"

She was cut off when Kenchi turned to her and kissed her lips. "You're so stubborn," he whispered when he pulled back. "You should just start accepting that you love me."

"O-OK," Makoto stuttered.

"Why have you been denying it around me, anyway? You told me you loved me yourself a couple weeks ago."

"I-I don't know! It's j-just natural for a girl to hide her feelings!"

"But they aren't hidden anymore."

"So what?"

"So stop, that's what."

Makoto sighed. "You don't give up, do you?"

"Neither do you," Kenchi pointed out.

Makoto nodded, chuckling. "I guess that's true. Anyways, should we start rehearsing or something?"

Kenchi shrugged. "I suppose."

"Alright. Um…do I start?" Makoto asked.

Kenchi examined the script. "Yes. You start."

Makoto nodded. "Um…then…should I start?"

Kenchi sighed. "Probably."

"OK." Makoto examined the words.

_How can I protect the one I love if I can't even protect myself?_

"You don't have to."

Makoto jumped slightly. She hadn't realized that she'd said the words aloud and started the scene.

"That was good. Try to capture that same expression when we actually go on stage," Kenchi laughed.

Makoto nodded. She was about to continue the scene when Grace flung herself into the room and clutched at Makoto's "fashionable sweater-vest".

"YOU GOTTA HELP ME!" she cried. "I don't know what to do! I don't have an acting partner or a singing partner…and I don't know who else to go to but you!"

"I already have a partner, Grace," Makoto said sadly, gesturing to Kenchi, who waved.

"I can be your partner," Kurayami Yume said from across the room, slathered in darkness. She was stroking a stuffed cat. "Hibikin and I need a new partner."

"That's right! Kura-kura and Fluffy and I have this great scene, but we're missin' someone to play the servant," Hibiki said gleefully.

Grace looked up at Makoto and mouthed the words "help me".

Makoto rolled her eyes. "Kenchi. Help me out here."

Kenchi walked over to Grace, squatted until he was eye-level with her, and said bluntly, "No."

Grace sniffed and stood. "I'm gonna go find Bubbles." Then she left.

"Abbi'll help her, I'm sure," Makoto commented.

Kenchi nodded. "Yep. So by the way, what song are we doing?"

Makoto shrugged. "Know any Japanese duets?"

Kenchi laughed. "Not for a boy and girl."

Makoto smirked. "How about you feel the pain I experienced for like, ever, and pretend to be a girl, and we'll go from there."

"Or you can just continue to look like a boy and we'll go from there."

"Hey! Jerk!"

Kenchi smirked back at her.

"You know, you might seem like just some perfect little gentleman, but you really are a jerk," Makoto huffed.

Kenchi shrugged. "I know. Let's pick a song, OK?"

Makoto shrugged. "You could write one."

"Or _you_ could write one."

"I stink at songwriting!"

Kenchi stood. "Alright, fine. I'll try. But there's no guarantee-"

"I couldn't care less about guarantees," Makoto interrupted. "Just write a song."

Kenchi nodded. "I will."

"I did it," Kenchi called past the door.

"Great," Makoto responded. "But I'm in the shower. I'll come out and listen when I'm done."

"Fine."

Makoto turned and shut the water off, then she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, wrapping it tightly around her body. "OK."

"Hey, can I come in? I think I might have left my favorite shirt today, and I want to wear it today."

Makoto searched around for her clothes. _I hope I didn't lose them again..._She managed to find them in only a short amount of time. "Yes!" she exclaimed, excited.

"Alright then. I'm coming in..."

Makoto suddenly snapped into reality. Her clothes dropped and Kenchi opened the door and walked in. "So like I said, I think my..." He trailed off and blushed. "Oh. Um...I thought you said I could come in..."

Makoto blushed. "I-I never said that..." she muttered uncomfortably, puling her towel a little farther up to better conceal her chest.

Kenchi turned away awkwardly. "Um...I'll just...get my shirt now..."

Makoto suddenly realized that not only was she in a towel, Kenchi was also shirtless. She also realized that if someone were to walk into the room right now, it would certainly be an awkward sight. _There's only one thing that could make it more awkward..._

All at once, as Kenchi was stepping forward to reach his shirt, he slipped on a wet spot in the bathroom (most likely from Makoto's shower) and fell. He happened to crash into Makoto, who, naturally, fell with him. He was stationed on top of her, one leg in between hers, probably causing a very awkward sight, and blushing madly, when the door opened.

"Hey, guys, it's Abberleigh. I need to borrow some soap, and you left the door open, so..."

Kenchi turned to her. Makoto raised her head slightly and smiled nervously. "Hey...Abbi..." she said awkwardly.

Abberleigh just stood there. "Um...what are you two doing?" she asked.

Kenchi blinked. "Well...she was taking a shower...and I walked in...and she was out...and I tripped," he explained.

Abberleigh nodded slowly. "Riiiight...so, um, I can see I'm interrupting something here, so I'll just come back later..."

"IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" Makoto and Kenchi insisted at the same time.

At that moment, from out of no where, Grace passed by, peeked in the room, smirked evilly, and took a picture. Then she just walked away.

"Get back here with that!" Makoto shouted.

"I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN," Grace yelled back.

Makoto blushed so hard she could barely feel her face. "It's not what you think...!" she cried, even though she knew it was no use. Kenchi cleared his throat and stood, holding his hand out to Makoto. Makoto took it and Kenchi helped her stand. Clumsily, Makoto stood and instantly collapsed right back into Kenchi's arms. Kenchi caught her uncomfortably.

"Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

Still blushing, Makoto only nodded.

Abberleigh, who was still in the room, nodded slowly. "Well...I'll let you two finish your...business...and, um...bye." Then she turned and hustled out of the dorm, closing the door behind her.

"We're not doing anything!" Kenchi called. Makoto quickly straightened up and clutched at the towel. "Well, um...on the bright side..."

Makoto waited.

"At least now I'm positive you're a girl."

Makoto's blush deepened until she felt like she was going to pass out and she backed into the bathroom slowly, pressing the towel against herself. "Did you really just say that? And here I am thinking you weren't a pervert!"

"I-I'm not!" Kenchi insisted, blushing. "I just mean...that came out wrong, that is...well, the towel did slip a bit, and I mean...I saw a little, but it's not like..."

"Jerk!" Makoto cried, slapping his face. Kenchi stumbled back, shocked.

"I don't mean-"

"Forget it, you perv!"

"It's not like I was staring or anything!"

"JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"

"Sorry!"

Makoto slammed the door and collapsed on the floor, completely embarrassed. "I can't believe he's such an idiot," she muttered to herself. Slowly, she reached for her clothes and got dressed. Then she just sat on the floor for a while. A tear slowly plinked from her eye, but she wiped it away, confused. _Why am I...? Oh, I get it. I must be upset because I hoped he wasn't stupid, and now it turns out he is. Jerk._

"Miss Makoto?"

Makoto said nothing.

"Ohime-sama?"

Still, she uttered no response.

"Hey man-woman. I want to talk to you."

"You're an idiot!" Makoto snapped.

Kenchi laughed nervously. "I got a response, good. That means you aren't dead. Look, I didn't mean it like that, OK? I'm sorry if I offended you."

Makoto shifted. "Of course you offended me."

Kenchi sighed. "I know," he admitted. "I'm sorry. Will you please forgive me and come out? I still need my shirt, you know."

"No. Get a different shirt."

"I want that one..."

"Too bad," Makoto huffed. "I'm not leaving until you're gone."

Kenchi sighed again. "You hate me that much, huh?"

Makoto stood slowly. "I...wouldn't say I hate you..."

"Then come out here," Kenchi pleaded.

Makoto opened the door slightly. "Just promise you'll never do anything weird to me..."

Kenchi chuckled. "No promises."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm KIDDING!"

Makoto nodded in relief. "I thought you were serious and you scared me. You're such an idiot."

Kenchi cupped her chin in his hand gently. "You should know I'd never do something like that to you. You're so gullible."

Makoto took his hand and smirked. "Jerk."

"Moron."

Makoto giggled. "You're right. Sorry for slapping you."

Kenchi rubbed his cheek. "It's OK. I probably deserved that," he laughed.

Makoto laughed back. "Yeah, you did."

"Hey," Kenchi half-whimpered. Makoto flung her arms around his neck and hugged him close. Kenchi put one arm around her waist, and with the other he held her face against his bare chest. Makoto snuggled into him happily.

"Let's pretend none of that ever happened, and we can pick up our happy-couple act with the part where you kiss me," Makoto suggested softly.

Kenchi smirked. "Don't mind if I do," he responded quietly, tilting her chin until her lips met his. They stayed that way until Makoto lost breath, and then they just held each other close until long after eleven o' clock, when it was finally time to part and go to bed. More then once, Makoto almost refused to leave and almost just slept beside Kenchi. But Kenchi, recently made ever-vigilant, lifted her and carried her to her own bed like the princess she'd become.


	13. Chapter 13

"What really happened last night?" Abberleigh asked again. "I mean, it looked like you were-"

"I SLIPPED, OK?" Kenchi cut in, blushing. "Why would I harass her like that?!"

Abberleigh shrugged. "Well, you are a man..."

"That doesn't mean I'm a pervert, you idiot."

Makoto nodded slightly. "That's true. If that were a true stereotype, you'd think more of these girls would leave me alone."

"They all know you're a girl, Miss Makoto," Kenchi pointed out.

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" Makoto whined.

Abberleigh laughed. "OK, alright, I'll leave you two alone now. I do admit, I think it's cute that you're _so _in love that-"

"Shut up already, Abbi!" Makoto and Kenchi snapped at the same time.

"Don't you have a scene to practice?" Kenchi sighed.

"I think Deidara's waiting," Makoto added with a wink.

Abberleigh blushed. "What's that wink for? We're just doing a normal scene, not something romantic..."

"Well, it's obvious he's upset about that," Makoto huffed. "Why aren't you doing a romantic scene?"

"Because that would be weird! We aren't dating or anything like you guys," Abberleigh said.

Makoto blushed. "Well, yeah, but...he is your roommate."

"So?"

"So, something is bound to happen! Just look at our awkward situation."

"Well, he does have..." Abberleigh trailed off. _I was about to give away Deidara's secret...I can't tell them about the mouths! Even though it was pretty scary, and I'd hate to suffer alone...no. I can't let Deidara down. _"Um...lots of...charisma?"

"That's the only thing you think to say?" Makoto pouted. "Charisma, eh? What does that have to do with preventing an awkward situation? Anyways, let's go practice, Oji-sama."

"Hai."

" Why do you guys do that?" Abberleigh laughed. "Why do you talk in Japanese like that?"

"Sore ga watashitachi no chiisana himitsuda!" Makoto and Kenchi exclaimed with a wink.

Abberleigh sighed. "I have no clue what the heck you two just said."

"Yoi."

"Totemo yoi!"

"PLEASE stop doing that!"

"Ie!"

Abberleigh moaned. "I'd like to understand what my friends are saying..."

Makoto laughed. "Gomen, gome—I mean, sorry."

Abberleigh pursed her lips. "Fine. I guess I forgive you."

"Watashi wa dodesu ka?" Kenchi cut in.

"Oji-sama, stop confusing her..."

"What about me?"

"I guess, if I have to..." Abberleigh muttered. Kenchi chuckled and Makoto giggled.

"Atta girl! Now, run along. Deidara's waiting!" She winked.

Abberleigh blushed. "Don't wink at me like that, we're just friends..."

"It's obvious he likes you, Abbi-chan," Makoto said.

"No Japanese honorifics while I'm here, OK?" Abberleigh sighed, exasperated.

"But we're Japanese! It's natural!" Makoto complained.

"I don't care!" Abberleigh whined. "I'm not Japanese, so it's kinda annoying that I don't know what you're saying!"

Makoto sighed. "Please go to Deidara," she begged. "Kenchi and I have to practice our scene, OK?"

"You just want to be alone with him, you bad girl," Abberleigh said, smirking evilly.

Makoto blushed madly. "Sh-shut up! Just g-go away!"

Abberleigh laughed and skipped off. After a minute, she realized she didn't know where she was. _I was so worried about getting out of there that I forgot where Deidara was..._ "Hello?" she called. No one answered. "Where is everyone? Where did I go?"

She heard a sound that sounded like a growl. _What was—no no, it's just the wind, Abberleigh...just the wind...growling. Yes. _Another noise sounded, but this time it sounded like a wail. Abberleigh walked a little faster. _Although, who knows what kinds of creepy things are in this school..._A hiss resounded from somewhere very close to Abberleigh, She let out a frightened cry and broke into a run. _Where am I? What kinds of creatures are in this place? It must e the wind, Abbi, don't be silly...but what if it isn't?_

Suddenly, eyes squeezed shut, Abberleigh bumped into something. The something grabbed her wrist and Abberleigh screamed. "Let go of me!" she cried, struggling. The something threw an arm around her waist and yanked her closer. "Let go!" Abberleigh shrieked.

"Oooww...Abbi, you're _hurting _me!"

Abberleigh's eyes flew open and she realized she had bumped into Deidara. Relieved, Abberleigh flung her free arm around his neck and started to cry.

"Deidara!" she wailed. "Where are we? I was looking for you! And then I heard all these weird noises, and...oh, Deidara, I'm so glad to see you!"

"I'm glad to see you too, Abbi," Deidara began, "but why are you over here? This is where the special effects and sound crews practice. I met one of them, his name's...George or Fred or Bob or something. Maybe is was Joe or Billy. I forgot. Anyways, he asked me to bring him his wrench, so I got it for him and that's why I'm here. But what about you?"

"I got lost," Abberleigh admitted. She blushed, suddenly aware of Deidara's arm around her waist. Slowly, she looked up at him. The hand that held her wrist now held her hand, gently. Something flicked across her palm and she heard Deidara curse under his breath. She stomped on his foot.

"Ow! It's not my fault my hand licked you! They do that on their own sometimes!" he complained.

"Not just that. I hate it when people curse," Abberleigh huffed. "Even if you're upset, just don't do it around me, OK?"

Deidara smiled. "You're one of those 'sensitive' people, then. Fine."

"Thank you."

Long moments of silence passed. The two of them just stood there for a while, holding hands. Deidara had his free arm around Abberleigh's waist, holding her closely, and Abberleigh's free arm was around his neck. She blushed. _Is this what it feels like to have a boyfriend? Is this how Makoto feels? Is this..._She looked up at Deidara. His eyes were closed and he was smiling. He seemed content to remain in their current position forever. _Is this how Grace felt?_

"Hey, Deidara," Abberleigh said suddenly. "Um...we should get back to backstage..."

"We don't have to go yet," Deidara whispered. "We can stay here, just like this, a little longer."

"D-Deidara," Abberleigh stammered, blushing. "I mean...w-we can't just stay here...and, um...I mean..."

"You're cute when you're flustered." Deidara chuckled.

Abberleigh turned away. "Deidara…"

"Yes?"

"Um…can you let go now?"

Deidara's smile slowly faded. "Oh…yeah, sure. Sorry." He pulled his arm from around Abberleigh's waist and slowly detached his hand from hers. Abberleigh blushed.

"Er…let's go back, OK?" Abberleigh asked uncomfortably. Deidara nodded.

"You go on ahead. I'm gonna take Billy-Bob-Joe-Fred-George or whatever his name was his wrench."

"Alright. I'll see you later…" Abberleigh said. Deidara nodded again.

"Yeah. See you."

_I wonder…is that how he feels?_

**You know how I use Google Translate?**

**You know how Google Translate sucks rocks in major ways?**

**Yeah. I think you get the point. If you native speakers spot mistakes in the Japanese, please let me know. Love you guys~)**


	14. Chapter 14

"Bubbles said 'no'," Grace complained. "I still need a partner, Jo."

"Well, you can join me and Crow this year," Jo suggested. "We could use another person."

"Really?" Grace exclaimed. "Yay! Thanks Jo!"

Jo gave her big sister a hug. "No problem, big sissy," she laughed. "Hey, Crow! Come meet our new group member!"

"Is it a juggling monkey?" Crow called.

"No, it's Grace."

"Well, she is a monkey...can she juggle?"

"...no..."

Grace shrugged. "I can kinda juggle."

Crow nodded. "Welcome, Grace. Can you play the role of a juggling monkey?"

"SHE'S NOT A JUGGLING MONKEY!" Jo snapped

Crow blinked. "I know that. But can she play the part of one?"

Grace looked at Jo. "I could try…"

"Jo, c'mon…just let her play the monkey."

Jo sighed. "Alright, fine…"

"Yay!"

"Thanks Jo!"

"The show is going to start pretty soon," Grace commented. "I barely got time to rehearse! Oh, but I'm singing a solo song, OK?"

Jo nodded. "Actually, Crow and I are doing solos too."

"Really?" Grace cocked her head. "I thought you were gonna do a duet. Oh hey, Bubbles is about to sing!"

Sure enough, Abberleigh was taking the stage. "Um, hello, everyone," she said. "I'm Abberleigh Johnson. I am going to sing Arms by Christina Perri."

"GO BUBBLES!" Grace shouted.

Abberleigh laughed and waved at her. "Thank you!" The band played and she waited for her time to start singing. When the time came, she opened her mouth and let the words flow. Grace found herself swaying.

"She sounds gorgeous," she commented. Jo nodded.

"She's very good."

"It's not just her voice that's beautiful," Deidara whispered from beside Grace. Grace jumped.

"Oh, it's Dei-Dei. I didn't see you there, buddy," she said.

Deidara grunted. "Don't act all sweet and friendly. I still haven't forgiven you for calling me 'pretty', y' know."

"But you're so beautiful!" Grace whined.

"I don't want to hear that, un!" Deidara snapped. "Why don't you get that? You're so annoying."

"…would a kiss make it better?"

"NO WAY!"

Grace laughed. "We should listen to Abbi."

"Too late," Jo sighed. "She just finished."

"Darn it," Grace muttered. "Good job, Dei-Dei. You ruined it."

"_I _ruined it?" Deidara muttered back to her.

Abberleigh descended the stairs.

"It's my turn now," Grace commented. "I'm gonna sing Lacrymosa with my opera chorus! It'll be fun."

"Good luck," Jo encouraged her.

"Thanks," Grace said. She hurried on to the stage. "Hi everyone. Meet my opera chorus."

The curtains behind her parted and a whole adult choir was standing behind her. The woman at the front, a pleasantly plump lady with rosy cheeks and dark brown hair, tapped her shoulder.

"Technically," she began, "we're a choir."

"I like chorus more, Hannah," Grace said blankly.

"It's Helga…"

"I like Hannah more, Hannah."

Helga sighed and shook her head. Grace faced the front and waited for the band to start. When her time came to sing, she started. She happened to see Blue in the audience about ¼ through the song.

He was in the second row, flirting with a bunch of girls. He wasn't paying any attention to her at all.

Suddenly filled with unimaginable fury, Grace belted out the rest of the song with all the power she had.

_"Now that you're gone_

_ "I feel like myself again…"_

Grace suddenly realized that the next words were inaccurate. She tweaked them a bit:

_"Not grieving the things I can't repair, and unwilling…_

_ "You can't blame it on me_

_ "You can't set your guilt free, 'honey'…_

_ "It's not me who held you back now, 'love'…"_

The band stopped playing. The opera choir stopped singing. Grace was thrust into an a cappella performance. But she didn't stop. She kept singing.

_ "I _won't _change who I am_

_ "Not this time, I won't lie to keep you near me_

_ "And in this short life, there's no time to waste on chasing you_

_ "My love wasn't enough."_

For the last chorus, Grace stepped away from the microphone and relied only on her voice to deliver the last chorus:

_"You _can't _blame it on me…_

_ "You can't set your 'guilt' free, 'honey'…_

_ "It's not _me_ who held you back now, 'love'…"_

As soon as she finished, she looked down at Blue and addressed him directly. "That one's for you, 'babe'."

She trotted off the stairs. Blue gaped after her. The audience erupted in thunderous applause and Grace collapsed into her seat. Deidara nodded approvingly.

"Very powerful, un," he commented. "I like it."

Grace nodded bitterly. "He had it coming."

Jo smiled at her reassuringly. "Good girl, Grace. Oh look, it's my turn now."

**_(Author's Note_****: If you want to hear Lacrymosa, look it up on youtube XD You can find the real lyrics on any lyrics site. It's by Evanscence.) **


	15. Chapter 15

Makoto gripped Kenchi's hand harder.

"Ow."

"Sorry…" She looked over at Grace and Jo, sitting with Abberleigh and Deidara. "I'm nervous. There was Grace's great performance, and then Jo's spectacular performance, and then Crow's awesome performance…and then me. Will I be able to live up to people's expectations?"

Kenchi shrugged. "Who knows?"

"You're supposed to be encouraging," Makoto pouted.

"That wasn't encouraging?"

"Not in the least."

"Sorry."

Makoto sighed. "I'm freaking out. I just know I'll mess up, and then people will laugh..."

"Just think positive," Kenchi suggested.

Makoto frowned. "What positive?"

"At least you don't have a concussion…"

"ENCOURAGING."

"Yeah, I know."

Makoto sighed. "I have to go. See you-"

She was cut off by Kenchi's lips on hers. "Good luck. You'll need it," Kenchi said with a wink once he'd pulled away. Makoto blushed.

"Yeah, whatever," she muttered.

"Up next is Makoto Kikuchi. Good luck, sir—er, dear!" Miss Raven called. The audience laughed. Makoto blushed even more.

"I can't do it!" she cried. "Now Miss Raven almost called me a dude!"

Kenchi shrugged. "So?"

"It's embarrassing…"

Kenchi grinned. "Just _try_, OK?"

Makoto sighed. "Fine. I'll _try_."

She walked onstage, holding her head high, trying to look like she had things under control; however, she was sure everyone could tell how much she was shaking. She took a deep breath and took the microphone from Miss Raven. "Um, I'm going to sing…a song…"

Grace booed. "That song is boring! All it does is 'la la la la la-la la la LAA' the whole song!"

"Not THAT song," Makoto corrected. "I mean…I'm singing Tear."

Grace laughed. "Oh…I thought you were actually singing A Song. I don't like that song. But I love Tear. Carry on."

Makoto sighed. "Yes. Thank you. Like I needed your permission. Anyways…" She looked around the auditorium. Deidara was chatting with Abberleigh, who was half listening to him and half watching her. Sasori was trying to get Deidara's attention. Jo and Kyoya were fencing in Grace and Blue, who were ignoring each other.

And Yukiho and Haruka were smiling broadly at Makoto. Seeing their smiles brightened her face ever so slightly, but just enough to start the song. She sang.

Nearing the end, Makoto noticed Kenchi's voice for the first time. He was inventing a harmony. Makoto was confused. _Why is he working so hard to invent a harmony for a song that so obviously doesn't have one? _Then she remembered what harmonies meant in the place she stayed in. Kenchi was displaying his love the way he should have been all along. She found it hard to finish the song without her voice cracking, but somehow she managed. The girls in the audience clapped the loudest when she finished. Trying not to yell at them, Makoto focused on listening for Kenchi. But he wasn't yelling, and it would be impossible to distinguish his clap from anyone else's. So she settled for simply smiling, waving to her audience, and walking backstage.

"You harmonized," she pointed out when she saw Kenchi.

"You noticed," Kenchi responded. Makoto nodded.

"Why have we never done that before?" she asked.

Kenchi shrugged. "We were…being rebels together."

"Good job stopping us from continuing that."

"Well, I got so good at it that I started rebelling against our rebellious sides. You're welcome."  
Makoto giggled. "Yeah, thanks a lot."

"Are you two done?"

Makoto turned. "Oh…hey Kyoya."

"Don't say 'hey' to me like we're friends," Kyoya muttered. "Move it. I'm performing next."

Makoto stepped aside. "OK…"

"Kyoya Tategami is next," Miss Raven suddenly announced. Kyoya grunted and walked on stage.

"I really hate that guy…" Kenchi muttered. Makoto nodded agreement.

"He's so rude," she whined. Kenchi draped his arm over her shoulders.

"So you don't like rude."

"No."

"Got it."

Makoto was expecting Kyoya to just belt out a couple notes and leave, so she was surprised when he turned to the band and muttered some words. She was even more surprised when he took the microphone from Miss Raven and took a deep breath. She was most surprised when he began to sing an English love ballad she'd heard from Grace—Hey There Delilah by the Plain White Ts.

Shocked, she turned to Kenchi. "He's good. He's actually really good. I'm shocked."

Kenchi nodded. "I can tell. I wasn't expecting this."

When Kyoya finished, Makoto realized that Shun was the first one to start clapping. She smiled. "Maybe they'll actually get along now."

Kenchi blinked. "Who knows."

Makoto nodded and turned to Kenchi. "Let's practice our scene one more time."

**(Author's Note: Holy fish. Peter Cugno singing Hey There Delilah. Huh. That one was a suggestion from my beautiful sister. Anyway. Did any of you notice that after all that trouble with Kenchi writing a song, neither of them actually sang it? Writing is weird, bros. I think it was just so bad that they didn't use it. Oh well.)**


	16. Chapter 16

"Are you ready, Deidara?" Abberleigh asked. "We act next."

"Yeah, I'm always ready! What about you?"

Abberleigh shrugged. "I don't know. I'm having trouble remembering lines."

Deidara laughed. "I'll improv for you if you mess up, OK? Promise."

Abberleigh smiled at him. "Thanks," she said warmly.

Deidara blushed slightly. "Um...you're welcome, Abbi. Look, Miss Raven's calling us on."

"And without further ado," Miss Raven was saying, "please welcome Deidara and Abberleigh!"

Abberleigh took a deep breath. "Here we go," she muttered.

Deidara took her hand gently. "Yeah. Here we go, un."

They walked on to the stage. Grace let out a loud cheer. Everyone else clapped politely. Abberleigh smiled and waved.

"Um, well...we're doing a scene. It's from a show. That we watched. And all that fun stuff..." _I'm suddenly nervous about doing a romantic scene with Deidara...I mean, it was fine at first, since it was just a scene. But..._ She looked across at Deidara, then to his hand loosely gripping hers. _But will he really just be acting?_

She remembered when he'd shown her the mouths on his hands. She remembered when she'd tried to scream and he had put his hand over her mouth. She remembered that in a way, it'd been her first kiss.

And suddenly, she couldn't remember anything else.

Abberleigh looked at Deidara, terrified. "I forgot all my lines," she hissed.

Deidara nodded. "Just improvise. I'll get it started."

Abberleigh nodded. "Thanks."

Deidara nodded. Then his face fell serious. Abberleigh prepared to continue the scene when he started. "Why did you run away?"

Abberleigh remembered what should have been the starting line. _Well…you found me. _But the line she had to remember now was still foggy. She improvised. "I had to. I…I couldn't stand to be in the room with you anymore." The real line floated back. _I missed him! The other one! The man I could have married!_

_ I was way off, _she laughed in her mind.

"Is that how it is, then…" Deidara trailed off. For a moment, Abberleigh didn't know what to do. Then she decided to stop focusing on acting and just say what popped into her head.

"That's…that isn't really it…I mean…I just got confused. I felt lost. Alone."

"So you distanced yourself from me to get over your loneliness."

"I wouldn't call it distancing…"

Deidara laughed. It wasn't forced, either; he seemed to be having a lot of fun.

"Then, why don't you come back, OK?" he asked.

Abberleigh slowly shook her head. One of her actual lines floated into her mind just in time. "I don't want to go back with you when everything I could ever want is out there!" Her lines all came tumbling back. She nudged Deidara and gave him a wink to let him know that they could go off of the script now, but Deidara didn't seem to notice. He kept improvising.

"What do you want?"

Abberleigh blinked. "I want…love…"

Deidara took her hand and cupped her chin. "I can give you that."

Abberleigh blushed. In just a second, she realized that the acting scene was no longer acting. The lines all left her head. All she could think of now was the first "kiss". All she could focus on were Deidara's eyes. All she noticed was how close his face was to hers.

"I…" She trailed off. "I know…"

"Are you willing?"

"Hm?"

"If I were to say that I loved you right now, would you be willing to accept that?"

"I…don't know…"

Deidara chuckled. His face tilted closer ever-so-slightly. "That's not a very comforting answer."

Abberleigh swallowed hard. _He's not acting. Does he…he loves me, doesn't he? What do I say?_

All words left her mind. She couldn't speak.

Deidara frowned. "Abbi?" he whispered. Abberleigh tried to speak, but only a small choking sound came from her throat. Deidara caressed her face gently. "Abbi…?"

The crowd began to murmur.

"What's going on?"

"Did they forget their lines?"

"Why did they stop?"

"The boy was good, but that girl seems totally out of place…"

"Abbi?"

Abberleigh let out a choked sob. She couldn't speak. She could barely move. She was about to just run, listening to the crowd's angry mutters, when Deidara spoke again.

"You don't have to cry," he muttered, loud enough for the crowd to hear. "If you love me, say it."

She didn't know what to say. "I don't know..." was all she managed to get out.

"Then show me."

"How do I-?"

She was cut off when Deidara lurched forward suddenly and kissed her. Abberleigh's face turned bright red, but the crowd was cheering now.

"So she was acting!"

"Wow! How believable!"

"They did a good job. And look, they're such a cute couple."

Abberleigh blushed. "What was that?!" she hissed in Deidara's ear after he pulled back. "That was NOT part of the script."

"Neither was any of that other stuff," Deidara pointed out quietly. "Look, I was just trying to save the scene. You were so humiliated that you were crying."

Abberleigh sighed. "Yeah...I guess. I'm sorry. Thanks," she muttered. Deidara took her hand and smiled warmly.

"You're welcome. Now, we need to get down from this stage. Jo, Crow and Grace have to act."


	17. Chapter 17

"Weren't they cute?" Grace squealed. "I always knew they would get married one day..."

"They just kissed, you know. It's not like he proposed," Crow pointed out.

"Well, a kiss is the first step," Grace pouted. "It's our turn!"

The three walked on stage. Grace was wearing a monkey costume and holding oranges. Jo was dressed in regular housewife clothes.

"Ready to go?" Jo asked. Grace nodded.

"Yeah, I think," she said. "Crow?"

"Let's do this," Crow muttered. "I start."

Grace nodded again. "Let's do this," she repeated.

"Honey, dinner's ready," Crow called, starting the scene. Grace shook her head vigorously to clear her thoughts and prepared to enter the scene.

"I'm right here, you dimwit! There's no need to yell!" Jo complained. "Where's Billy-Bob-Joe-Fred-George Jr.?"

"You mean the mailman?" Crow questioned. Jo "slapped" him.

"No, you idiot! The monkey!"

"Our monkey is Billy-Bob-Joe-Fred-George III though, Dear."

Jo shook her head. "Where is she?"

"Isn't it a boy?"

"No." Jo shook her head. Grace hopped onto the stage on all fours.

"There she is," Crow commented. "Why is she hopping?"

Jo moaned. "Because you _broke_ her by making her juggle for two hours straight yesterday. Now, Billy-Bob-Joe-Fred-George III...juggle!"

Grace proceeded to toss the oranges into the air and juggle them. She dropped the oranges many times, but she always lifted them back up and proceeded to juggle again.

Jo smiled proudly. "Good monkey. Good, good monkey. Todd, see what I told you about our little girl? I'm telling you, she'd win the talent show for Lucy!"

"Or we could always put her in a dog show. I'm sure she'd win that."

"She's a MONKEY, Todd. Not a DOG. You're such an idiot." Jo put her hands on her hips and blew hair out of her face in fake exasperation.

"Well she's not a human either," Crow moaned. "So how will they let her into the talent show? She'd beat Lucy anyways," he pointed out.

Jo groaned. "I mean put her in with Lucy! Lucy will pretend to be the trainer!"

The audience laughed. Grace dropped the oranges, stooped down to pick them up again, and continued juggling.

"You're confusing, Mary," Crow sighed. "I want juice." Then he turned and walked offstage. Jo threw up her hands, defeated, and followed him. Grace hopped after them. The audience laughed and cheered and applauded. The three walked back onstage, bowed lightly, and re-exited.

Once backstage, Grace turned to Jo. "I kept dropping the oranges," she said.

"I know. It's OK."

Crow shrugged. "We could have gotten a better monkey..." he reminded them.

Jo blinked. "You were the one who asked for Grace," she told him. Crow snapped.

"Oh yeah! I'd forgotten!" He laughed.

Jo and Grace laughed back.

"Now," Grace began, "we get to watch Kenchi and Makoto. What did he sing, anyways? I didn't hear because I was in the bathroom."

Crow chuckled. "He didn't. He said a couple words, sang one or two notes, called it a 'creative rap', and left."

Grace smiled. "I should have known...I heard they were doing a romantic scene. I'm excited."

Jo smiled back. "Yeah, me too," she agreed.

Grace took her sister's hand, who in turn grabbed Crow's hand. Then the three strolled off the stage and took their seats. Grace noticed that Shun was sitting close to Kyoya, and Kyoya hadn't moved away.


	18. Chapter 18

Kyoya stood suddenly. "It's our turn," he muttered to Shun, who stood beside him. Makoto and Kenchi had just finished their scene, and it was now time for the now-five too-cools to take the stage; they were a group currently consisting of Kyoya, Shun, Chazz, Jasper, and Raven. Kyoya and Shun joined the others on the stage, and for some odd reason, Kyoya stepped aside to let Shun walk up first.

_First he clapped when I sang. Next, I let the guy sit next to me. Now I'm letting him go in front of me? What's next, are we going to go on a date or something? _he thought to himself, chuckling slightly. _Really, it's ridiculous. But at the same time, he really isn't that bad. Somehow he's different from the rest of us while still managing to be the strong, silent type we all used to know him as. Raven's definitely taking that spot from him, though. _Kyoya turned to seek out the black-haired, brown-eyed young too-cool, and for the first time, he noticed how shockingly similar he was to Shun.

_They even look almost the same, _Kyoya realized. Their hairstyles were slightly different, but the both had the same basic demeanor, and the same hair and eye color. He watched Raven place his arm around Jasper's shoulders and gently coax him onto the stage. He was surprised to notice how much Jasper reminded him of himself, in a way. Both were quiet and more aggressive than calm, and both seemed reluctant to hang around anyone but a select few.

The only difference was that while Raven and Shun may have been similar, as well as Jasper and Kyoya himself, Jasper and Raven were best friends while Kyoya and Shun absolutely detested each other.

Even as he was thinking that he knew it wasn't true. Kyoya didn't favor Shun, that was for sure, but Shun seemed to actually respect Kyoya as a person. He was making an honest effort to abolish the rivalry between them.

A year or two ago, the idea would have disgusted Kyoya. But know, the dream seemed like it may just become a reality. Even during last year's talent showcase, when Shun had first proposed the idea, Kyoya had been honestly considering letting it go. He'd seriously had to almost force himself not to stop. Shun had made extremely valid points.

And a part of him genuinely hoped that Shun would instigate an end to the fighting this time too. He walked onstage.

Chazz looked at them. "What are we doing, anyways?" he asked.

Raven shrugged. Jasper muttered something under his breath. Kyoya and Shun shook their heads.

"I guess it's comedic improv again. This time I'm gonna be a lazy chef. Jasper?"

"I'll be the emo kid who wants to kill everybody in the world," Jasper suggested, smiling slightly.

Chazz blinked. "...That suits you. Shun?"

Shun shrugged. "Um...I'll be a normal guy. Not a normal girl, either. Just a guy."

"Can you be a puppeteer?" Chazz asked gleefully.

Shun shook his head. "No way, Chazz. But I'll be a movie director if that will make you happy," he agreed.

"Only if you're a really mean, snappy director," Chazz pouted.

"Fine," Shun sighed.

"Good. Raven?"

Raven said nothing.

"Raven will be my...cameraman..." Shun announced.

Raven nodded consent.

"Kyoya?"

Kyoya paused. For a minute he said nothing. Then he came up with his suggestion. "I'll be the stuck-up movie star who hits my director. Heh. Heh heh."

Shun muttered something unintelligible. Raven moved away from Jasper and stood close by Shun. Kyoya smirked and moved over to his group. Chazz nodded.

"All right, then. Who starts?"

"I want to kill everybody in the world!" Jasper called. "I started it."

"Well, you can't," Chazz said. "You have to cook this giant turkey." He lifted a small pig from the ground that had somehow ended up on stage—likely from one of Makoto's female fans.

The audience laughed.

"That's a pig, you idiot!" Jasper snapped.

"Pssh...pig, turkey...same thing," Chazz muttered. "Oh look, it's a guy with some people."

Raven opened the "door" to Chazz's "restaurant" and was immediately followed by Kyoya and Shun.

Kyoya walked over to Chazz. "I want ham. Not normal ham, but slow-roasted, smoky black forest ham smothered in butter and dipped in a honey glaze. And I want it to be sprinkled with paprika," he declared.

Chazz looked at Jasper. "...Thomas. Fill that order."

Jasper glared at him angrily. "Thomas? Really, dude?!" he whispered harshly. Chazz nodded. Jasper sighed. "I don't want to, Chester. I want to kill everybody in the world. Including YOU."

Chazz glared back down at him. "Fine, then. You, cameraman...cook that."

"He has a name," Shun huffed. "It's...Ren."

Raven smiled approvingly. "I don't know how to cook, but I'll try," he muttered.

Kyoya turned to Shun. "I want you to do it, FuFu," he announced.

"But my name is Mark," Shun complained.

"I like FuFu more," Kyoya said. He slapped Shun and turned away. "Now cook, FuFu."

"Sure thing, Rufus," Shun said, smirking.

"Rufus?! That's like, the stupidest name ever!" Kyoya snapped.

"It suits you," Shun stated, shrugging.

Kyoya smirked. "Oh, ha ha. You're so clever," he hissed, his words dripping with sarcasm.

"Yeah, you too," Shun replied, equally sarcastic. "But I outwitted even you with my little 'name change', don't you agree?"

Kyoya stepped closer. "You think you're so cool..."

"So do you!"

"You better just back down, pretty boy!"

"You're one to talk. I'll back off when you do," Shun snapped, lifting his chin.

"Oh, look at the time, Ren and Thomas and I have to go to the doctor's barn and do check-ups on some sleeping pigs. So sad," Chazz cut in. "Let's go, guys."

Raven hustled off the stage, giving Shun one last glance. Jasper muttered something under his breath and followed him. Chazz was last to leave. "Give it a rest, guys," he said quietly when he passed.

"Look, I don't know who you think you are to stand up to me, you little punk," Kyoya snarled. "But I won't take any of your sass, got it?"

"Who's sassing?" Shun asked innocently. "Kyoya, I'm perfectly calm. You could learn from me."

"Learn from you?" Kyoya scoffed. "Yeah, when you bow before my superiority."

Shun stepped even closer. "I won't back down," he whispered. "Because you ruined your chance. I tried once before to end this, but now I'm done. I wanted to give you another chance. But you're pushing things, Kyoya!"

"Yeah, well, I really wanted to let bygones be bygones too, 'buddy', but it's not going to happen because you don't know when to back off!" Kyoya said through his teeth.

Long moments of silence hung heavy in the atmosphere. It was broken when suddenly, out of the blue, Shun stepped back slightly and covered his mouth with his hand. In just a minute, Shun was laughing; genuinely laughing. He threw back his head and laughed some more, holding his stomach. For some strange reason, Kyoya felt himself joining in. Shun put a hand on Kyoya's shoulder to steady himself, and Kyoya placed a hand on Shun's back.

"We're such idiots!" Shun cried between peals of laughter. "Look at us, fighting like a bunch of kids because each of us is waiting for the other to break down...!"

Kyoya smiled, a real smile and not a smirk, for the first time in a long time. Shun stood up. "We're like a couple of two-year-olds," Kyoya muttered. "You know what, you're right."

"Then, I'll be the first one to say it," Shun said. "Kyoya, I like you. I really respect you as a person, and I think when it comes to strength, you're the better of the two of us. Really."

Kyoya nodded. "I guess I might like you too, a little," hesaid. "You certainly have a lot of guts to come up here and challenge me. And you aren't afraid to say what you feel, you know? I like that."

Shun smiled warmly at his former rival. "Then it's done."

Kyoya nodded again. "Yeah. It's done." He reached out a hand. Shun took it. The audience erupted in roaring applause. And for once in his life, Kyoya felt relieved to be on a stage with Shun.

The famous rivalry had finally ended.

**(****_Author's Note: _****And Thus marks the end of the rivalry, as well as the end of me switching order. I wanted to show a fight scene from Kyoya's point of view, to show what he had really been thinking on that first day.)**


	19. Chapter 19

Abberleigh shrunk farther into her bed. "I still can't believe you kissed me," she muttered to Deidara.

Deidara shrugged. "Well, I like you, and you were having trouble."

Abberleigh sat up. "But you didn't ask my permission! What if I didn't want my first kiss to be with you?!" she snapped.

Deidara blinked and sat on the bed beside her. "I didn't want you to say no..."

Abberleigh looked up at him and saw that he was blushing. Her own face was starting to grow warm. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"I mean, I really like you, and I wanted to kiss you," Deidara answered. "Sorry if I'm not exactly the best guy on the planet."

"You're fine," Abberleigh insisted. "I was just shocked, that's all..."

"You sure do protest a lot for someone who's just shocked," Deidara complained.

"Sorry," Abberleigh muttered. "I guess I just still don't understand. I mean, why would you even consider kissing me?"

"Maybe because you're smart, and nice, and really pretty, and accepted me. And I like you. A lot."

Abberleigh sighed. "I...thank you. I just don't know what to say."

"You've already said plenty, thank you."

"What does that mean?"

"I get it. You don't care about me like that." Deidara paused and looked away. "It's OK, really."

Abberleigh stood. "That's...I don't know how I feel," she admitted. "For now, let's just put it aside. If I decide that you're right and I don't like you, that's how it is. But if I realize that I actually do like you, then...then _that's _how it is. OK?"

Deidara shrugged. "Fine."

"Deidara..." Abberleigh trailed off. "I'm going for a walk. I'll see you later."

"OK."

Abberleigh strolled out of the room, unsure of where she was going. _How do I really feel about Deidara? What do I do? He hates me, and rightfully so. I was awful to him, wasn't I? _she thought. She sighed. _I want to talk to Grace._

When she reached Grace's room, Grace was just leaving. "Hey, Bubbles! So, how was that kiss?" She winked.

Abberleigh blushed. "I don't know," she admitted.

Grace frowned. "You wanna talk?"

"Yes, please..."

Grace nodded. "So, what seems to be the problem?"

"Deidara told me he loved me," Abberleigh began, "and I didn't know how to respond. Do I love him, or don't I? I can't tell."

Grace shrugged. "Well, I can't answer that question for you," she laughed. "But I can tell you that love is a pretty strong word. You sure that's what he said?"

"Well, his exact words were 'I really like you'..."

Grace smiled. "Then, do you like him?"

"I don't know! That's what I said-"

"No," Grace cut in. "You said you didn't know if you _loved _him. That's different." She sighed. "Think of it like this. Liking someone is being willing to risk your life for someone."

"That sounds like love to me-"

"_Loving_," Grace interrupted, "loving is when you're willing to _give _your life for someone." She grinned, proud of her wisdom. "See now?"

"I'm not willing to do either," Abberleigh muttered.

Grace blinked and placed the tip of her index finger in her mouth, thinking. "Then, maybe you just care about him."

"What's the difference?" Abberleigh asked curiously.

"Time for another analogy! Let's think about this..." Grace paused, pondering. "I've got it. Caring is being willing to _give_ everything. Liking is being willing to _be_ everything. Loving is being willing to _sacrifice_ everything. You get it now?"

Slowly, Abberleigh nodded. "Yes, I do. Thank you."

Grace closed her eyes, smiling calmly. "Yeah, you're welcome. Come back for more motherly advice if you need it, OK?"

"Thank you. I will."

Eventually, Abberleigh left Grace and sauntered back to her own room. She walked in. _Give. Be. Sacrifice. Which can I do for Deidara? I can't sacrifice, I'm too scared. I can't be...I'm not good enough. Can I give? Yes, everything of me...it's his. I can give. I care._

"Deidara?"

Deidara turned. "Oh...it's you. Welcome back."

"I care about you," Abberleigh announced. "I can't say I like you or love you, exactly...but I do care about you. Is that enough?"

Deidara smiled warmly and stood. He walked over to her and embraced her, holding her in his arms gently. Abberleigh let her face rest against his chest. "Yes," Deidara whispered softly. "Yes, that's enough."

Abberleigh thanked Grace silently. Her spirits lifted and she began to feel that soon, very soon, she would be able to _be _everything for Deidara. She snuggled deeper into his chest and just savored the moment of closeness. She knew she'd be back to Grace if she ever needed advice.


	20. Chapter 20

Grace beamed triumphantly. "Shun, did you hear my analogies? I'm so smart. I feel so wise..." She trailed off and tried to stifle a laugh. "Shun, why is your hair in a braid?"

Raven and Jasper, the two new young two-cools, had infiltrated Grace's room since Raven wanted to talk to Shun and Jasper wanted to come along. Jasper snickered. Raven flicked Shun's now-braided black hair up and down.

"Ask Raven," Shun muttered. "Geez...can't a long-haired guy get some peace? Leave a couple emo kids alone with your head for five seconds and this is what happens."

Grace stopped stifling her laughter and it came out full-force. "You look like an idiot!"

"I know!" Shun snapped.

"Why didn't you take it out?"

"Well, Raven worked so hard...and..."

"Oh, Shun, that's so cute!"

"Sh-shut up!"

Grace giggled. "And what Jasper do throughout all of this?"

Shun blushed. "Laugh at me. And take a picture."

"Maybe you should take it out," Grace suggested.

"I can't, Raven was grunting with effort while he did it, and he kept having to start over to get it perfectly symmetrical..." Shun mumbled.  
Grace sighed. "OK. Well, anyways, I was giving Bubbles some advice, and I feel pretty good about it, and I felt so wise. And then..." She trailed off. "That's it, take it out. I can not take you seriously with braided hair."

"But I worked so hard," Raven murmured.

Grace shook her head. "Too bad."

Shun sighed and pulled the tie from his hair, separating his locks until his hair was back to its regular straight state. "Now, what were you saying?"

"Can I re-do it later?" Raven asked from his place beside Shun.

Shun sighed. "Um, no."

Grace laughed. "Oh, come on, I think it's cute that he wants to spend some time with you!" she squealed.

Shun blushed. "Shut up. Or at least, if you're going to talk, tell me what you were going to say before."

Grace chuckled one last time. "Aw, you're blushing! You're so cute. Now, what I was saying was that I gave Bubbles some really good, wise advice. I'm proud of myself. It was pretty cool. And then she went back to her room to get everything squared away. Did you know Deidara has a crush on her?"

"No, really," Shun gasped, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I never would've guessed. I think everyone figured that out from his face after the scene. And even during it, he kept looking at her like he wanted to kiss her."

"I couldn't tell..." Grace pointed out.

"Well, that's because you're an idiot," Shun stated bluntly.

"Hey!"

"It's true."

Grace sighed and shook her head. "Fine, whatever. I'm going to Bubbles' room to see how things went. And you...don't leave emo kids alone with your head anymore."

"Yeah, yeah, I won't."

Grace smiled one more time and walked out of the room. She could hear Shun talking to Raven as she was walking away.

"C'mon, bro...can't I please re-do it? You looked just like a girl."

"Exactly why I'm not letting you put that braid back in, Ray."

"C'mon, bro, please! I really want to...I worked really hard on it the first time..."

"...fine. Just...Jasper, if you take a picture, I'll kill you."

"No worries, bro, I gotcha covered. Yo Jasper, hand me the camera."

"No."

"Well...I tried. Now stay still..."

Grace burst out laughing. "You kids have fun!" she called past the close door.

"We will," Raven and Jasper chimed. Shun just moaned.

Grace turned and skipped down the hallway towards Abberleigh's room. When she found it, she rapped gently on the door with her knuckles until Abberleigh pulled the door open.

"Hi, Grace," she said pleasantly. "So, what's up?"

"I just came to see how things went. Did you two make up?" Grace asked.

Abberleigh nodded. "Yes, thanks to you," she answered.

"Did you make _out_?"

"Wh-what? No!"

Grace snickered. "Oh, I thought he would've wanted..."

"You're mean," Abberleigh cut in. "Anyway, things are fine. Thank you for checking in. Please go away now."

"Why, am I interrupting something?" Grace asked innocently.

"Yes. My peace and quiet. Now goodbye," Abberleigh huffed, slamming the door shut. There was silence. Then...

"But...I'll come to you for advice if I ever need it again, OK? Thank you."

Grace grinned. "Yeah...you're welcome, Bubbles." She set off for her own room, already planning how she would advertise her new counseling "business" to other members of the school. _I think I ought to help people other then just Bubbles. I'll make up posters broadcasting my wisdom. I can charge people for my advice! _She began to hum a happy tune, skipping merrily back to her room. _This'll be fun._


	21. Chapter 21

"Are you sure you got everything?" Kenchi asked his roommate after a day at the beach. "I mean, I can see you have the towel and everything, but-"

"I'm sure, Kench," Makoto insisted. "Now...hand me that shell. I want to stare at it. I swear it looks like Grace!"

"It definitely does not," Kenchi laughed, handing Makoto a small scallop's shell. She stared down at it.

"Look here; see that, that's her chin. And then right here is the eye, see? It's like a perfect profile of Grace." Makoto sighed. "How do you not see it?"

Kenchi walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder. "I don't see it."

"Right here. Look closer."

"I seriously think it's just a regular shell," Kenchi announced.

Makoto hit his arm playfully. "That's because you're blind," she joked. Kenchi laughed.

"OK, OK, I'll look harder if you want me to. Here, hold it up farther. I'm like, six inches taller then you. I can't see it if you're holding it way down there," he pointed out.

Makoto raised the shell a bit. "Like this?"

"I was thinking..." Kenchi paused, wrapped his arms around Makoto's waist and placed his hands on hers, then lifted the shell to her neck. "...like that."

Makoto blushed. "Y-you could've just told me..."

Kenchi smirked. "But then I wouldn't have been able to hug you."

"Oh joy."

Kenchi sighed. "Look, if you'd rather I just never came close to you again..."

"No!" Makoto yelped.

"Well, every time I get close to you, you either slap me, or tell me to go away, or accuse me of harassing you..."

"That's because I'm embarrassed...!"

Kenchi leaned in towards her face. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about," he murmured. Makoto blushed harder. Instinctually, she slapped his face away. Kenchi stumbled and tripped, falling backwards. Still gripping the shell, he pulled Makoto with him and she landed on top of him.

"Sorry!" Makoto exclaimed. "I-I didn't mean..."

"See, that's exactly what I'm talking about," Kenchi moaned. "So, when did wanting to kiss your girlfriend become a crime?"

"Since when did I become your girlfriend?" Makoto countered. She turned herself around in Kenchi's arms so that she faced him and crouched over him. _Maybe this is a bad idea when I'm in a bikini..._

"I thought that was what you wanted," Kenchi said, a hint of sadness in his voice. Makoto blushed.

"Um...well, it is..."

"Then," Kenchi began, pulling her down closer, "why are you running away?"

Makoto opened her mouth to say something, but embarrassment stole her words away. Kenchi moved one arm down to her waist.

"I'm not letting you get away this time," he muttered, staring into her eyes. Makoto's face burned bright red. Kenchi's other hand moved up until the heel of his palm was almost touching her chest. Makoto fought the urge to hit him.

_I guess I don't really mind...I mean, at least he treats me like a girl, _she thought, letting herself relax. She moved one hand onto his bare chest and let out a contented sigh.

"Hey guys, do you have any soap? I never got my soap from last time, and..."

Makoto and Kenchi's heads snapped towards the direction of the voice. There was Abberleigh, standing in the doorway, holding the doorknob in one hand. Her other arm just remained by her side.

"So, um...what are you doing?" she asked uncomfortably. "Kenchi, are you trying to rape her or something? Or is it the other way around..."

"It's not what it looks like!" Makoto insisted.

"What are you talking about? It's exactly what it looks like," Kenchi corrected calmly, moving his hand in closer to her chest. "Now you, get what you need and go away. I'm busy."

Abberleigh nodded slowly. "Right...so, um...you should lock your door when you're trying to have sex. OK?"

"Alright. Now hurry and get out."

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Makoto cried, struggling against Kenchi's grasp. _I didn't realize he was...!_

Abberleigh hurried into their bathroom. Kenchi held Makoto on top of him. His hand moved to her shoulder. Slowly, he began to pull the strap from her shoulder. Makoto blushed madly.

"Yeah...well, I've got my soap now, so...bye, guys," Abberleigh said awkwardly, moving out of the room.

"Great. Get out," Kenchi ordered, watching the strap slip from Makoto's shoulder.

"Right...I'll just..." Quickly, Abberleigh slipped out the door and closed it tightly behind her. As soon as she did, Kenchi tugged the strap back onto Makoto's shoulder and shoved her aside, jumping to his feet.

"Well, that could have been a disaster," he commented lightly. "I thought I might have actually had to strip you. Oh well, it really did get rid of her quickly. And I don't think she'll just barge in anymore."

Makoto leapt up. "What was that?!" she snapped. "What the heck were you planning to do?"

Kenchi shrugged. "Get Abbi out of here. Make sure she would know not to just walk into our room uninvited again. Do it all in under five minutes and without all the awkward explanations."

"That was anything _but _a lack of awkwardness! I thought you were going to take my top off!"

"I didn't say without awkwardness, I said without awkward _explanations_. And so did I, for a second there."

"And you were _OK_ with that?!"

Kenchi shifted his gaze to her and smirked. "Partially."

Makoto blushed and slapped him quickly. "You're such a pervert!"

Kenchi blushed. "Th-that's not what I meant...I mean, I-I just wanted her out of here so if I'd had to scare her off, then that would be OK with me...it's not like I want to see your breasts or something..."

"That's exactly what you want!" Makoto yelled, crossing her arms across her chest. Kenchi blinked.

"N-no...well, I mean...I am a man, so..."

"I'm going to the bathroom!" Makoto announced. "I don't want to see you right now, you jerk!"

"I'm just saying...!"

"Save it!"

Makoto stalked to the bathroom, stepped inside, slammed the door behind her, and locked it. Then she sat on the floor, her back against the door, utterly embarrassed.

"Hey...Makoto..."

"I don't want to talk to you, pervert."

Makoto heard Kenchi sigh. "Look...I'm sorry, OK? I just wanted to get rid of Abberleigh..."

"She would've left on her own," Makoto mumbled. "Without you having to touch my butt. Yeah, I felt that."

"I-I was just-"

"You're just a pervert!" Makoto interrupted. "Now go away! I don't want to talk to you."

Long moments of silence passed. Awkwardness hung in the air, surrounding the room with a feeling of humility. Then Kenchi spoke again.

"Is it my fault that I really, really like you?"

Makoto shifted.

"I could even call it love, actually."

Makoto moaned. "I said I don't want to talk to you..."

"But I want to talk to you," Kenchi replied. "Whether you'll listen or not."

Makoto said nothing.

Kenchi sighed. "Hey...Makoto, honey..."

"Don't call me that, you idiot!"

"I'm sorry that I let my feelings get the best of me sometimes!" Kenchi snapped. "But it happens to the best of us. Sometimes I just can't control my love for you and it makes me do crazy things."

"Like almost rape me?" Makoto suggested sarcastically.

"Well, yes..."

"And touch me?"

"Um...that too..."

"And say that you ENJOYED it?!"

"I never exactly said that!" Kenchi said quickly. "Please, just come out of there..."

"Why should I?" Makoto sniffed.

"Because I want to kiss you?" Kenchi prompted.

Makoto blushed. "No. I'm mad at you."

"Please come out of there," Kenchi begged. Sighing, Makoto stood and faced the door.

"If I do, can you promise you won't try to grope me or something?"

"Of course not!"

"WHAT?!"

"No! You misunderstood! I-I mean, I misunderstood...o-of course I wouldn't do that, not of course I can't promise you that...p-please just come out!" Kenchi stammered.

Makoto's blush deepened. "Fine. I'm coming. Slowly, she unlocked the door to the bathroom and pulled it open. As soon as it was opened enough for Kenchi to get an arm in, he flung his arm around Makoto's waist, yanked her out of the bathroom, and pressed his lips against hers to stop the string of protests spewing form her mouth. After a few seconds, Makoto relaxed and kissed back. What seemed like hours (but was, in fact, only seconds) later, Kenchi finally released her and pulled away.

"Are you OK?" he asked her softly.

Makoto smiled. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just...don't ever do that again, please?"

Kenchi blushed. "Well, no promises..."

"Kench!"

"I'm sorry, OK? I'm a man! We have issues!"

"Great. Now just don't do that anymore, alright? It's a terrible way to treat a girl!"

Kenchi laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. I promise. At least until we're married, right?"

Makoto leaned her head against his chest. "I'd like that," she whispered. "Now kiss me again, you perv."

"Happy to," Kenchi replied, lifting her chin. He leaned in and kissed her gently. Makoto pressed back with all the passion she could.

_You may be a pervert and an idiot...but I still love you, _she thought. _I'll always love you..._

"Hey guys, I got the wrong kind of soap—oh, you're making out? That's cool. I'll just get my soap now..."


	22. Chapter 22

Abberleigh sighed. "I wish those two wouldn't be so confusing. And it always makes me feel so awkward when I walk in and they're doing something! Did you know that Kenchi was trying to rape her when I walked in earlier?!"

Deidara laughed. "Wow, really? You go, dude!"

"That's a terrible thing for a girl to go through!"

"Well, for the girl, maybe. But for a boy-"

"Deidara, you're a mental pervert," Abberleigh announced.

Deidara blushed. "Sorry..."

Abberleigh giggled. "As long as you aren't a physical pervert, I guess I don't mind. Just don't think creepy thoughts."

Deidara nodded. "Alright, got it."

Abberleigh yawned. "Gee, I'm kinda tired…and that whole episode just freaked me out. I want to take a nap," she whimpered.

"Then, go ahead and take a nap. I'll be right here," Deidara promised.

"Thanks."

"Bubbles! Hey, Bubbles! Open the door, I wanna talk! The school year is almost over and I want to throw a party!"

Abberleigh moaned. Sighing, she stood. "Coming."

As soon as Abberleigh opened the door, Grace threw herself into the room, giggling and grinning. "So, like I said, I wanna throw an end-of-the-year-party. And you're invited. Dei-Dei-chan, too," Grace announced.

Abberleigh blinked. "OK. Well, when?"

"Right now."

"What?!"

"It's now. We're starting with truth or dare. Come on!"

Deidara leapt up. "No. NO! Last time I played truth or dare with you people, I got cold and wet!"

"Then, just pick truth this time," Grace suggested. "Come on…let's go!"

Abberleigh laughed lightly. "Then, I'm coming. Who else is there?"  
"So far, Shun, Raven, Jasper, Yukiho and Haruka, and Kurayami, Hibiki…oh yeah! And the twins Hikaru and Kaoru. Honey is there too. And Jo and Kyoya. And Iori. The end."

"And Deidara and I are the last ones left?" Abberleigh confirmed.

Grace nodded. "So will ya come?"

"Yup. Deidara, let's go," Abberleigh prompted.

Deidara frowned. "Fine," he muttered. "But if I get cold and wet again, I blame you."

"So Dei-Dei, truth or dare?" Grace asked once Abberleigh and Deidara had reached Grace's room.

"Truth," Deidara answered.

"Do you love Bubbles?" Grace asked with a wink.

"Well, they're OK…"

"No, not bubbles. Bubbles! As in Abbi!"

"Oh." Deidara blinked. "Yes. I do. OK, Shun?"

Abberleigh blushed. Shun groaned.

"Truth, I guess," he mumbled.

"Are you an emo?"  
"_That's _an understatement. Grace?" Shun asked.

Grace giggled. "I want dare."

Shun glanced over to the door. "I dare you to go find Blue, drag him in here, and tell him how you _really _feel in front of all of us."

Grace stared at him for a moment before rising to her feet and stalking into the hallway. She returned a minute later tugging Blue behind her.

"I hate you," she announced. "I have no feelings for you at all. I want you to understand that I don't want you back. Now please go away."

Blue scowled at her, then turned and walked off in a huff. Grace looked over at Jo. "Jo? Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Jo shouted.

"I dare you to pick Deidara up on your back and run around in the halls," Grace declared.

Jo jumped up. "Yes ma'am! Dei-Dei! Come to me!" Grunting, Deidara stood.

"You can't pick me up," Deidara scoffed. Jo didn't even blinked. She bent over.

"Get on," she ordered. Deidara sniffed and climbed onto Jo's back.

"Wow, you're actually doing it-"

Without warning, Jo bolted from the room and started running down the hallways. Grace could hear Deidara screaming. Jo ran back into the room and dumped Deidara onto the floor again.

"How the heck did she do that?!" Deidara demanded.

Jo shrugged. "I'm strong. Abberleigh?"

"Truth, I want truth, please..."

"What is your favorite word?" Jo cocked her head.

Abberleigh shrugged. "Um...fui. It's a Latin word. That, and onomatopoeia." She laughed. "Now, um...Kyoya?"

"Truth."

"Do you like Shun now?" Abberleigh questioned.

"...I guess," Kyoya muttered.

"Aw, how cute!"

"Shut up or I'll eat you."

Abberleigh smiled. _I'm so glad they're friends now._

Kyoya grunted. "OK, Hibiki. Truth or dare?" Kyoya mumbled.

"Ugyaa, I wanna dare, yo!" Hibiki exclaimed.

"I dare you to eat some pork. Or beef, or duck, or..."

"NO!" Hibiki cut in. "I can't! Not the poor little cows an' pigs an' such!"

"You have to. Or, you can choose to eat a whole can of Brussels sprouts."

"BRUSSELS SPROUTS! GIMME THE SPROUTS!"

Kyoya turned to Grace. "You have any Brussels sprouts?"

Grace nodded. "Be right back." When she'd retrieved the Brussels sprouts, she placed them in front of Hibiki, who devoured them immediately.

"Done!" she called out to the assembled people. "Kura-Kura! Truth or dare?"

Kurayami closed her eyes. "Dare."

"I dare ya to tell me the truth," Hibiki stated. "How old are ya?"

"1,503," Kurayami said simply.

The room fell silent.

"I lied. I am 18."

Hibiki let out a breath of relief.

"Now, Hikaru," Kurayami began, "truth or dare?"

Hikaru shrugged. "I dunno. Hey Kaoru, what do you think I should choose?"

"Let's both pick truth," Kaoru suggested.

"OK. Then, truth," Hikaru replied to Kurayami.

"If you choose to kill everybody in the world and spare your twin, or kill your twin and-"

"I'd kill everybody in the world!" Hikaru interrupted. "Nothing could make me kill Kaoru!"

"...I was going to say 'kill your twin and then gain necromancy powers and revive him', but that's OK," Kurayami finished.

Hikaru blinked. "Oh. Well, even if I were going to bring him back to life again, I'd still kill everybody in the world."

"Hikaru, that's so sweet..."

"You know I could never hurt you, Kaoru. Now, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Hikaru looked over at Grace. "Um...Grace, what should I ask?"

"Ask if he's in love with me," Grace insisted.

Hikaru nodded and turned back to Kaoru. "You heard the lady. Are you?"

Kaoru shook his head. "No. Sorry, Grace. Honey-senpai, truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Honey cheered. "I want a dare!"

"Grace, you have a cake?" Kaoru asked.

Grace nodded and retrieved a large, chocolate cake. "Here it is."

"I dare you to eat the whole cake by yourself," Kaoru said.

"Yay! Thank you, Kao-chan!" Honey squeaked. "Before I start eating this wonderful cake...Yuki-chan, truth or dare?"

"Um...t-truth please," Yukiho whimpered.

"Do you like cake?"

"Yes, but I like tea more," Yukiho replied. "Makoto-chan...! Truth or dare?"

"Dare! Definitely dare!" Makoto laughed.

Haruka turned and whispered to Yukiho for a moment. "Um...I dare you to kiss Kenchi-kun..." Yukiho paused. Haruka whispered something else. "...on the lips."

Makoto blushed. Kenchi moved in closer to her.

"Uh, alright, then..." Makoto muttered, turning to Kenchi. Slowly, she leaned in. Kenchi placed his forehead on hers. Makoto tipped her head and pressed her lips to his.

Abberleigh, Haruka, Grace, Yukiho, and Honey erupted into a chorus of "aw"s. Grace took a picture and Makoto yanked her head back.

"D-don't take a picture!" she snapped, blushing madly.

"Aw, did you have to pull away? I was enjoying myself," Kenchi complained.

"Shut up! Haruka, truth or dare?"

Haruka shifted. "I want a dare."

"I dare you to go outside and eat the first bug you see. Make sure you do it by the window, so we can see," Makoto ordered, grinning evilly.

"Gyaah...! You want me to eat a bug? Well...OK then." Haruka stood and took a deep breath. She darted out of the room. The party-goers waited for a moment while Haruka found her snack, then watched as she approached the window and stood there, lifting the worm she'd chosen above her head. Squinting her eyes shut, Haruka released the worm and it plummeted into her mouth. The room cheered. Abberleigh and Makoto laughed. Haruka's face screwed up in disgust. She turned to the party-goers, took a bow, then turned and ran away. She entered the room moments later.

"I'm back! The worm was really gross and I felt bad eating it. But I did it, and now I'm back. So, Kenchi...truth or dare?"

Kenchi giggled. "That was funny. So, I want a dare..."

Instantly, Haruka leaned across and whispered something to him. Kenchi's face grew bright red.

"N-no way!"

"It's a dare, so you have to do it."

"But...th-that's not fair!"

"I had to eat a worm! Now come on...!"

Kenchi gulped. "No. I changed my mind."

"You can't," Abberleigh and Grace said at the same time.

Kenchi blushed harder. "But I can't..."

"What was the dare?" Abberleigh wondered aloud.

Kenchi leaned over and whispered to her. "She wants me to touch Makoto. And I mean, the inappropriate kind of touching. Not just a harmless poke on the arm. She specified that."

"What?!" Abberleigh exclaimed, looking over at Haruka. "That's just wrong, Haruka..."

"What is?" Makoto asked warily. "Does it involve me?"

"Yes," Haruka announced.

"No," Kenchi insisted.

"Maybe!" Abberleigh called.

Makoto shook her head. "You guys are confusing..."

Haruka laughed evilly. "Come on...you have to."

"But, Haruka, that is kind of unfair..."

"But he has to!"

"What made you think of that?"

"Well, your stories, actually. So I thought, maybe he'd be happy if..."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Kenchi cried. Quickly, he reached over, grabbed one of Makoto's breasts, and gave it a squeeze. Makoto let out an embarrassed cry and slapped him. Kenchi placed a hand on his face. "Geez, Haruka, look what you did! Are you happy now?"

Haruka smirked. "There we are. Ha, she slapped you...that was funny. Now, it's your turn..."

"Haruka! Why the heck did you tell him to do that?!" Makoto demanded, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Well, he's a man, so I thought it'd make him happy..."

"This is why men are scary!" Yukiho whined.

"Blame Haruka, not me!" Kenchi begged. "It was her dare! Now...Jasper. Truth, I'm guessing?"

Jasper shrugged. "Sure."

"OK. Of the people in this room, who are you the most desperate to kill?"

Jasper blew some hair out of his face, which immediately flopped right back down. "Hm, that's a tough one...it's between Grace and Jo. I think Jo, since she obsesses over me," he added. "Raven?"

"Dare, bro. Dare all the way," Raven laughed.

"I dare you to kill Jo."

"OK."

"NO!" Grace yelled quickly. "Pick a different one!"

Jasper moaned. "Fine. I dare you to 'fly' around the room yelling some random nonsense."

Raven stood and brushed himself off. Then he began to circle the room, flapping his arms, yelling, "QUOTH THE RAVEN: YOUR MOM! IS THE LIGHT OF DAY ALL BUT HIDDEN TO YOUR FATHER? HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT I'M A BIRD? BUT HARK, HERE I AM, RUNNING AMUCK."

Raven's "audience" clapped. Raven stopped running, bowed, and sat. "Iori. Truth or dare?"

"You can call me Minase-chan, or Iori-sama," Iori sniffed. "I want a truth."

"What is the longest amount of time you would be able to live without that stuffed rabbit?" Raven asked curiously.

"Um..." Iori paused, pondering. "I think...maybe a night or two? Usa-chan is very important to me." Raven nodded.

"That concludes round one. Let's start round two!" Grace announced. "This time, it's elimination!"

The attendees clapped and cheered. For the rest of the day and into the night, Abberleigh and the other guests (plus Grace and Shun, who weren't guests) played party games, ate food, and generally just acted like idiots. Abberleigh suddenly realized just how much she was going to miss her friends when they all left the school. She moved closer to Deidara.


	23. Chapter 23

"7 minutes in heaven? But, isn't that a little awkward since we aren't all dating?" Abberleigh commented.

"That's OK, I won't be strict. I'll make an exception, you don't have to kiss the whole time. Just go on in there and do whatever you want to, OK?" Grace said.

Makoto shifted. "Oh joy of joys. Well, since Kenchi had no trouble _groping _me, I can't wait to see what he comes up with when we're alone in a _closet_."

"I didn't have no trouble! I was protesting!" Kenchi insisted. "But they made me! I give in to peer pressure easily..."

Makoto sniffed indignantly and turned away.

"Well...since you two seem so keen to go into my closet, I'll send you in first," Grace announced.

"I'm the opposite of keen! I'll hate you forever if you send me in there with that pervert," Makoto whimpered.

"Too bad. Now go." Grace flicked her head to Jo and the stronger girl crossed the room, lifted Makoto, and half-threw her into the closet. Immediately after, she dragged Kenchi to the closet and slammed the door. Makoto heard the door lock.

"Don't closets lock on the inside?" she called through the door.

"Mine locks both ways!" Grace answered. "Now make out!"

Makoto moaned and scooted against the far wall. _It's dark in here, and really cramped. Is it just me, or is this place getting smaller?_

She felt, rather then saw, Kenchi sit next to her and drape an arm across her shoulders. "OK, so what will I have to do to get you to forgive me this time?"

"You promised me you wouldn't do that again..."

"No, I said 'no promises'. And besides, it was a dare, and if I didn't do it who knows what they would've done to me?"

Makoto moved away from him and drew her knees to her chest. "I'm not buying it," she muttered. _I swear it's getting even more cramped in this place..._

"Are you OK? You look pale," Kenchi commented, cupping Makoto's chin and tilting her face towards him. Makoto blushed.

"Well, actually..." Makoto trailed off. "Um...I'm claustrophobic."

"You are?" Kenchi gasped. "Oh, man...I didn't know. I think I can get Grace to let us out early..."

"You can't!" Grace's voice chimed.

"But she's-"

"I'm fine," Makoto insisted. "I mean...I will be fine. It's just seven minutes. I'm sure I'll be fine..." _Am I the only one who feels like this place is littered with spiders? And maybe even cockroaches, _she thought miserably. She shuddered.

"I'll protect you, if anything happens," Kenchi murmured. "Because I love you. You know that, right?"

Makoto blushed. "Yeah. And, um...I love you too," she said quietly. Kenchi moved a little closer.  
"Good. Now, you want to see how long we can stand here making out without getting ourselves killed from lack of breath, or would you rather sit here shivering in my arms? Either way, be prepared to stay close to me," Kenchi warned.

Makoto giggled. "Well, either way seems fine to me..."

"Then, how about we stand up and you can shiver in my arms while I make out with you. Sound good?" Kenchi confirmed.

Makoto stood slowly. "I guess," she said warmly. Kenchi smirked , stood, and wrapped one arm around her waist. The other he placed on the back of her head, holding her against his chest. Makoto let out a contented sigh.

After a moment, Grace called out, "Four more minutes, you guys!" Kenchi looked down at Makoto.

"And now for the part where you kiss me," he announced. Makoto giggled.

"You pervert."

"You moron."

Makoto tipped her head up. "Geez, it's be easier to kiss you if you were like, six inches shorter," she whined.

"Well, you'll have to make do," Kenchi stated, leaning in. When they were close enough, Kenchi kissed her gently. Makoto kissed him back. That was the way they stood, holding each other until Grace's shouted warning:

"One more minute!"

When she heard Grace's voice, Makoto jumped away from Kenchi. But she had forgotten that Kenchi's arms were still wrapped around her. She tripped.

Kenchi managed to keep hold of her, adjusting his arms to catch her perfectly. Makoto blushed, suspended in the air by Kenchi's arms. "Um...thanks," she muttered uncomfortably. Kenchi blushed too.

"You're welcome."

"You're done, guys! So, how did it go..."

Abberleigh had flung open the door and now stood staring at the couple, and at their less-awkward-than-usual-but-still-awkward stance.

"Did you...have fun?" Abberleigh asked.

Kenchi blushed. "Er...yes."

"Kenchi, why is your hand on her butt?"

"It is?!"

Makoto scrambled to her feet. _That perv! I just realized..._

"I'm sorry!" Kenchi apologized quickly before Makoto could slap him. "I was just trying to keep you from falling, so..."

"Then why is it still there?"

"Why are YOU still HERE? Go away," Kenchi demanded. Abberleigh lifted her hands and backed away. Kenchi stepped away from Makoto and removed his hands. "Dang it...I just can't catch a break, can I?" he laughed. "I always mess up with you."

Makoto blushed. "Yes. Yes you do. But..." She trailed off. "I think I can get used to it."

Kenchi's face turned bright red. He turned away, embarrassed. "...you don't say. So, um...I think Abberleigh and Deidara should go next."

"Great idea!" Grace squeaked. "Bubbles, you and Dei-Dei have been elected to go next. Have fun!"

"Aren't we supposed to draw from a hat or something?" Abberleigh asked.

"Not in our version. Now go!"

Quickly, Kenchi and Makoto hustled out of the closet. Jo had already forced Abberleigh into the closet and was now working on towing Deidara to the door.

Makoto sat right next to Kenchi for the rest of the night. _Somehow, when he was next to be, I forgot all about the darkness and the tight space and the bugs that could've been there. I'm glad I met Kenchi, even if he is a pervert...and a jerk...and an idiot..._ She giggled. _I hope one day, he'll marry me to make up for it._

Deidara and Abberleigh's time passed quicker then expected. Grace was disappointed to learn that the only romantic thing that had happened was a kiss on the cheek. But the two sat side-by-side for the rest of the night, Abberleigh sitting on Makoto's left and Deidara on her left, and the four of them talked about the insanities that had unfolded in the closet.

For the first time, Makoto realized how much she didn't want to leave Miss Raven's Talent Facility.

** (****_Author's Note: _****I realize that I messed up the usual flow of chapter POVs in this chapter. You were expecting something from Grace. But, in order to capture the awkwardness of this chapter, I had to do it from Makoto's POV. Grace's POV will be next. Thanks for reading! :33)**


	24. Chapter 24

Grace smiled to Shun. "We're graduating today," she sighed. "I can't believe it. I'm going to miss you guys so much."

"Yeah, I'll miss you too," Shun admitted. "But you know, after this we still have one more year together." He laid his hand on Grace's gently.

Grace leaned against his shoulder. "I hope we're roommates again. What did you do before I joined this school?"

"Um, room with Chazz, actually."

Grace chuckled. "Well, it's better this way anyways. Want to go to graduation?"

Shun nodded. "Are you ready? That dress looks nice on you," he added.

Grace blushed. "Thanks," she said gratefully. "Yeah, I'm ready." She adjusted the pale blue strap on her shoulder and tugged at her knee-length skirt.

Shun placed a hand on her bare shoulder. "Then, off we go."

Grace trotted out the door, Shun following. Together, the two strolled off to the auditorium. There they met up with Abberleigh and Deidara and sat beside them Grace turned to Deidara.

"Dei-Dei, I'm excited," she hissed. "I'm shivering."

"Cool. Hey Abbi, your last name is Johnson, right? So then...I think I go before you," Deidara contemplated.

"Why, does your last name start with an 'a', or something?" Grace asked politely.

"What? No, I don't really have a last name. They're just going off of my first name."

"Ah."

Everyone fell silent. A few minutes passed before Miss Raven and Miss Evangeline strolled onto the stage clutching microphones in one hand and certificates in the other.

"We're here to announce the graduating class of Miss Raven's Talent Facility, 2012!" Miss Raven announced. The audience erupted into applause. Miss Raven raised a hand. They fell silent again. "I'll start with the first year students graduating to a second year status. I suppose you're freshmen graduating to sophomore status, but I'll use the first/second/third year terms instead since some of you are very young, but on your fourth year."

Everyone cheered. Miss Raven began to read off the names. The first one was Haruka. She practically leapt up the stairs, gratefully shook Miss Raven's and Miss Evangeline's hands, and took her certificate. Belting out a "Thank you so much!", Haruka left the stage and returned to her seat. After a few minutes, Miss Raven reached the young, male Raven.

"Raven Bloodtear, come on up," she rang out. Raven walked onstage and muttered something, then he took his certificate, shook hands, and left. Miss Raven read a few more names, and then she reached Deidara.

"Deidara! Come on up, dear!" she called. Proudly, Deidara rose and walked across the auditorium onto the stage. Miss Raven said a few words and handed him the certificate. Deidara refused to shake their hands and simply descended the stairs and went back up to his seat.

"Jasper Fujiwari," Miss Raven stated. The small emo boy strolled calmly onstage, took his certificate, said nothing, and left. Miss Raven frowned. She read off a few more names, including Hibiki and Yukiho, and then reached Honey.

"Mistukuni Haninozuka!" she called. Honey jumped up and bounded to the stage. He shook hand with both the principal and the superintendent and took his certificate, then ran back down to his seat.

"Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin!"

The twins stood from their seats a few rows down from Grace and the others, and ascended the steps, holding hands. Together they accepted their awards and left for their seats again.

It was a few more people before Miss Raven reached Abberleigh. "Abberleigh Johnson."

Abberleigh beamed and skipped down to where Miss Raven was standing. The two exchanged some words and shook hands, and then Abberleigh took her certificate. She turned to Miss Evangeline and they said some things, then after shaking hands again, Abberleigh skipped back to her seat.

"I'm so happy," she whispered.

"I'm happy for you," Grace whispered back.

The process was repeated with Makoto and then Iori, then on to Kenchi. After that, Miss Raven moved on to the second years becoming third years. Blue's name was announced first, then some more people, and then Irene. Eventually Shun was reached, then Grace herself and her sister Jo, and lastly Kyoya. Miss Raven moved on to the third-to-fourth-years, and then the graduating fourth years. Finally, the graduation ceremony came to a close. Grace and Shun returned to their room to begin packing.

"I can't believe the year is over," Grace yawned.

"You said that earlier already," Shun commented.

"I know, but I just can't believe it!" Grace squeaked in reply. "We're gonna be third years when we come back!" She threw her clothes into a suitcase and zipped it closed.

Shun stopped packing. "Actually," he corrected, "I'll be a fourth year. I'm leaving Miss Raven's next year, Grace."

Grace froze. "Right...I'd forgotten," she said quietly. Shun crossed the room to her and kissed her cheek.

"It won't be goodbye forever," he promised gently. "I'll keep in touch. And I'll visit sometimes too. Now, I'm almost done packing, so I'll say it now; see you soon, Grace. I love you."

Grace smiled weakly. "I'll never forget you," she whispered softly. "Promise. I'll see you soon."

Shun smiled back and knelt by his suitcase. Grace walked into her bathroom to get her stuff. When she exited again, Shun was already gone. She took a deep breath, finished packing, and waited for Jo to arrive.

"You ready, Big Sissy?"

Grace jumped, startled. "Oh...Jo. I was waiting."

"Did Shun-baka already leave?" Jo asked.

Grace nodded. "Don't call him a baka. Where did you even learn what that means?"

"I looked it up," Jo admitted. "Now com on. We should go home."

Grace tried to smile. "I'm going to miss this place," she murmured.

"Me too. But we'll be back."

"Yeah, but what happens then? At the end of that year?" Grace snapped. "Shun leaves, that's what. And Chazz, Kyoya, Celeste, Astrid, Irene, and Victoria. Chloe, too! These are all people I've grown close to...except for Kyoya! And I'm going to miss them like heck!"

"But you know who stays behind?" Jo prompted. "Me. Abberleigh. Deidara. Jasper and Raven, Kurayami, Makoto, Kenchi, Hibiki, Blue...Crow."

Grace nodded slowly.

"So you see, it won't be all bad," Jo soothed. Now, grab your things. It's time to go."

_It's time to go. _The words echoed in Grace's head. _This year passed so quickly. I'm just now realizing how close Shun's graduation is... _she thought. She smiled. _But I'm ready. _"I'm ready."

Jo beamed. "There you are! You need help with your things?"

"No, I've got it," Grace insisted. She grabbed one suitcase in her left hand and the other in her right, then started to tug them out the door. She followed Jo all the way back to their house, looking back more then once at the towering figure of Miss Raven's Talent Facility.

"Goodbye, second year. Third year, we'll be there soon!"


End file.
